Bio-Orchestration of Cellular Organization and Human-Preferred Sensory Texture in Cultured Meat.

For cultured meat to effectively replace traditional meat, it is essential to develop scaffolds that replicate key attributes of real meat, such as taste, nutrition, flavor, and texture. However, one of the significant challenges in replicating meat characteristics with scaffolds lies in the considerable gap between the stiffness preferred by cells and the textural properties desired by humans. To address this issue, we focused on the microscale environment conducive to cell growth and the macro-scale properties favored by humans.

Cultured meat with enriched organoleptic properties by regulating cell differentiation.

Research on cultured meat has primarily focused on the mass proliferation or differentiation of muscle cells; thus, the food characteristics of cultured meat remain relatively underexplored. As the quality of meat is determined by its organoleptic properties, cultured meat with similar sensory characteristics to animal-derived meat is highly desirable. In this study, we control the organoleptic and nutritional properties of cultured meat by tailoring the 2D differentiation of primary bovine myoblasts and primary bovine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells on gelatin/alginate scaffolds with varying stiffness.

Tailoring a Gelatin/Agar Matrix for the Synergistic Effect with Cells to Produce High-Quality Cultured Meat.

Edible scaffolds are needed in cultured meat to mimic meat's three-dimensional structure by organizing cells and replenishing the insufficient meat mass of cells alone. However, there is still a large gap between slaughtered meat and cells developed into tissues using scaffolds. This is mainly due to the difference in size, texture, flavor, and taste.

Gelatin MAGIC powder as nutrient-delivering 3D spacer for growing cell sheets into cost-effective cultured meat.

Cell cultured meat is artificial meat obtained by culturing animal-derived cells in vitro, and received significant attention as an emerging future protein source. The mass proliferation of cells in the cultured meat production is a strenuous process that delays the commercialization of cultured meat because it requires an expensive culture medium for a long period. Herein, we report on a strategy to develop advanced cultured meat using fish gelatin mass growth-inducing culture (MAGIC) powder and myoblast sheets.