Scientists develop plant cell culture scaffold for cheaper, more sustainable cultured meat

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has succeeded in 3D printing an edible cell culture scaffold from common plant proteins.

Laboratory-cultured meat is grown on three-dimensional scaffolds, but these are usually made of expensive or inedible materials. The NUS team therefore used plant proteins that are biodegradable and biocompatible.

“By using readily available cereal prolamins as biomaterials for high-precision 3D printing technology, we open up a new method for manufacturing edible and structured scaffolds to produce cultured muscle meat slices with fibrous qualities,” said Prof Huang.

The researchers used mixtures of corn, barley and rye flour. The scaffolds retained their structure and pig cells grew faster on the prolamin constructs than on standard scaffolds. The team grew meat similar to real animal meat in 12 days.

“Scaffolds made from plant proteins are edible and have diverse and variable peptide sequences that can facilitate cell attachment, induce differentiation, and speed up the growth of meat. In contrast, synthetic scaffolds such as plastic beads used for cultured meat have no functional group which makes it difficult for animal cells to attach and proliferate In addition, synthetic scaffolds are not edible and extra steps are required to separate the scaffolds from the meat culture,” elaborated Prof Huang Dejian.

“Since the scaffold was edible, no special or additional procedures were needed to extract it from the final product,” shares Prof Huang. These results further verify the potential of the proposed prolamin-based scaffolds in cultivated meat production.”

Further developments

Prof. Huang and his team are actively working to refine the plant protein-based technology. For example, further studies are needed to better determine how the particular structure and composition of the prolamin constructs might affect animal stem cell growth and muscle tissue formation.

“Moreover, we need to ensure the resulting meat products are market-ready, with safety profiles that will satisfy rigorous regulatory demands and nutritional compositions that will fulfil recommended dietary needs,” says Prof Huang. “Of course, they need to be appetising, too. Flavour, aroma and texture need to be carefully calibrated to compete with traditionally farmed meat products.”

Find out more about the National University of Singapore at nus.edu.sg.