Cultured meat with enriched organoleptic properties by regulating cell differentiation

Abstract

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. We assess the effect of muscle and adipose differentiation quality on the sensory properties of cultured meat. Thereafter, we fabricate cultured meat with similar sensory profiles to that of conventional beef by assembling the muscle and adipose constructs composed of highly differentiated cells. We introduce a strategy to produce cultured meat with enriched food characteristics by regulating cell differentiation with scaffold engineering.