Abstract

Key factors influencing the properties of 3-D printed artificial plant tissue

Valérie Vancauwenberghe, Student, KULeuven

This study aims at developing new methods to print in 3-D simple objects that have a microstructure and mechanical properties similar to those of plant tissues. Since its recent successes in biomedical applications, there is an increasing interest in bioprinting of artificial tissues using animal cells as biological entity. However, the use of plant cells in bio-ink material has been poorly investigated so far, and 3-D printing of plant cell suspensions has not received any attention yet. This study aims at developing new methods to print in 3-D simple objects that have a microstructure and mechanical properties similar to those of plant tissues. The 3-D printer we have developed is based on the extrusion of bio-inks composed of a matrix material with plant cells embedded. The matrix material consists of a low-metoxylated pectin solution that binds the plant cell suspension together and maintains the 3-D structure of the printed tissue. The cells are obtained from maceration of tomato pericarp or lettuce leaf tissues using pectinase. The effect of several key factors such as simple or co-axial deposition, specific structure designs or bio-ink compositions including cell concentrations on 3-D printed plant materials with desirable properties is investigated.