Fecha de publicación: -- Fuente: PubMed "rice" Int J Biol Macromol. 2026 Oct 20:154981. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2026.154981. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to analyze the effect of ultrasonication treatment on the functional, structural, and rheological properties of rice bean protein isolate (RBPI) and subsequently use the optimized RBPI to formulate the 3D-printable food inks. Ultrasonication was applied at increasing treatment intensities (5-30 min), at a constant frequency of 40 kHz. FTIR, UV-Vis Spectroscopy, XRD, and SEM analysis confirmed that ultrasonication efficiently modified the secondary and tertiary structure of RBPI without altering its primary structure. These structural modifications resulted in significant (p < 0.05) improvements in solubility, water binding capacity, foaming and emulsifying capacity, and in-vitro protein digestibility. Particle size analysis further demonstrated enhanced uniformity and reduced aggregation, leading to improved dispersion behavior of ultrasonication-treated RBPI. Temperature sweep analysis demonstrated the formation of a robust protein network. Rheological characterization revealed improved non-Newtonian shear-thinning behavior and strain, frequency, and temperature-dependent viscoelastic properties of ultrasonication-treated RBPI. The developed RBPI-based 3D-printable food ink exhibited a higher storage modulus (G'). The results further confirmed the presence of a well-defined linear viscoelastic region in the inks and their controlled structural breakdown at higher deformation levels. Texture profile analysis revealed that the food ink exhibited good mechanical properties, maintaining shape fidelity and layer adhesion during printing. The combined structural, rheological, and textural results confirmed that ultrasonication significantly improved the functional characteristics of the RBPI. The functional, structural, and rheological properties demonstrate the potential of ultrasonication-modified RBPI for the development of a structured 3D-printable food ink.PMID:42901341 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2026.154981