Cultured meat platform developed through the structuring of edible microcarrier-derived microtissues with oleogel-based fat substitute

Abstract

With the increasing global demand for meat, cultured meat technologies are emerging, offering more sustainable solutions that aim to evade a future shortage of meat. Here, we demonstrate a cultured meat platform composed of edible microcarriers and an oleogel-based fat substitute. Scalable expansion of bovine mesenchymal stem cells on edible chitosan-collagen microcarriers is optimized to generate cellularized microtissues. In parallel, an oleogel system incorporated with plant protein is developed as a fat substitute, which is comparable to beef fat in appearance and texture. Combining the cellularized microtissues with the developed fat substitute, two types of cultured meat prototypes are introduced: layered cultured meat and burger-like cultured meat. While the layered prototype benefits enhanced stiffness, the burger-like prototype has a marbling meat-like appearance and a softer texture. Overall, this platform and the established technological basis may contribute to the development of different cultured meat products and promote their commercial production.

The Need for Research on the Comparison of Sensory Characteristics between Cultured Meat Produced Using Scaffolds and Meat

“…This production method is known to have a texture more similar to real meat than the method described above ( Ravishankar et al, 2019 ). Yen et al (2023) and others reported that cultured meat produced with MC made of 2% chitosan and 0.2%–0.3% collagen showed low hardness, elasticity, and cohesion in the raw state but that these factors could be improved in the cooked state. Therefore, cultured meat should be produced by manufacturing scaffolds using appropriate concentrations and processing methods to improve appearance, flavor, and texture ( Fig.…”

The Color-Developing Methods for Cultivated Meat and Meat Analogues: A Mini-Review

“…Additionally, Ong et al (2021) harnessed the color-changing properties of jackfruit-based scaffolds for porcine myoblasts to imitate the characteristic meat browning of conventional meat while cooking. On the other hand, Yen et al (2023) mimicked meat marbling using fat replacers derived from plant-based oleogels, an example of post-production processing for cultivated meat.…”

“…Overall, most of the colorants are natural pigments dominated by the use of beets or paprika. Other techniques used to induce coloration include the addition of plant-based replacers, heme proteins (Hb and Mb), decompartmentalization, Haematococcus pluvialis , ohmic cooking, and color-enhancing additives, such as xylose, laccase, pectin, and lactoferrin ( Bakhsh et al, 2022 ; Huang et al, 2024 ; Jung et al, 2022 ; Liu et al, 2023 ; Ong et al, 2021 ; Sakai et al., 2022 ; Simsa et al, 2019 ; Wen et al, 2022 ; Xia et al, 2022 ; Yen et al, 2023 ). Although the usual color of focus for meat analogues is meat-like red, the cooked coloration was also given importance.…”

“…Despite the focus on achieving meat-like red for meat analogues, other research focused on fat alternatives, which also contribute to the color and overall appearance of both conventional meat and meat analogues. Yen et al (2023) developed an oleogel-based fat replacer for cultivated meat. Meanwhile, Dreher et al (2021) focused on developing fat replacers from canola and sal.…”

Sculpting the future of meat: Biomaterial approaches and structural engineering for large‐scale cell‐based production

“…Using optimized and scalable methods, cellularized microtissues, oleogel-based fat substitute and transglutaminase crosslinking enabled the formation of these cell-based meat products. The advantage of using transglutaminase is its ability to bind microtissues through enzymatic crosslinking, thus stabilizing and improving the mouthfeel of the meat structures (Yen et al, 2023). The use of transglutaminase in cell-based meat production has been previously reported (Kang et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2022) and no doubt will continue as it improves cell-based meat cohesion, and organoleptic properties (Yen et al, 2023).…”