With the world’s population on the rise, the potential of cultivated or lab-grown meat to meet future protein needs is gaining attention. Researchers have found that non-allergenic wheat protein glutenin can successfully grow muscle and fat layers, mimicking the texture of traditional meat products. This breakthrough could pave the way for using edible, inexpensive plant proteins to produce lab-grown meat.
To replicate the composition of traditional meat products, it is essential to include fat in the 3D structure. The team of researchers aimed to develop plant-based films using glutenin, a protein in gluten that is typically non-reactive for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, to grow muscle cells and fatty layers.
The researchers isolated glutenin from wheat gluten and created flat and ridge-patterned films. They then deposited mouse cells that develop into skeletal muscle onto the protein bases and incubated the cell-covered films for two weeks. The cells grew and proliferated on both flat and ridged films, showing promise for the future of lab-grown meat production.
Further work is needed to improve how cells attach to the plant-based film to achieve growth similar to that on animal-derived biomaterial. During the incubation period, the cells on the patterned film formed long parallel bundles, closely resembling the fiber structure of animal muscles.
In another experiment, mouse cells that produce fat tissues were deposited onto flat glutenin films. As the cells proliferated and differentiated, they produced visible lipid and collagen deposits, demonstrating the potential for growing fat layers in lab-grown meat.
2024-01-30 01:41:03
Link from phys.org