Global population is increasing, it is projected to hit 9.77 billion inhabitants by 2050. The alternative proteins market is therefore seeing a rapid growth. Example of these alternatives are plant-based products, insects, and algae proteins. Another proposed alternative protein, cultured meat or cultivated meat, the method of producing animal protein by cell culturing in a controlled environment, will help to satisfy these consumers’ demand for animal protein, which will not be sustained by factory farming. This demand, according to United Nations, World Bank and AT Kearney Analysis, will be met by cultivated meat (35%), plant-based meat replacement (25%) and conventional meat (40%) by 2040.
In this context, BioTech Foods co-founder and CTO, Mercedes Vila, has led a research on cultivated meat texturization carried out during… that it has just been published in the journal ‘Nature Scientific Reports’ under the title ‘Application of texture analysis methods for cultured meat characterisation’. Mechanical characterization supposes a key step in the development of cultivated meat to help mimicking the sensorial properties of already existing commercial products based on traditional meat. «Research into texturization is one of the decisive steps in defining the production and scalability phase of cultured meat in which we find ourselves,» says Mercedes Vila.
The Vila’s research presents a comparison of cultivated meat‑based samples with commercial of the shelf common meat products (sausage, turkey and chicken breast). Results show that both Young’s and Shear modulus in the cultivated meat samples can be compared to commercial products in order to understand its properties.
The texture characteristics for the cultivated meat studied, show values within the range of commercial products. These results demonstrate the applicability of this methodology for the adjustment of mechanical properties of cultivated meat products.
Proposed meat alternatives have a wide portfolio of flavours and textures, with different shapes, and they can be ingested alone or added to several recipes, pasta, soup, salads… But they all should meet certain criteria for being able to be processed and have appropriateness to be cooked. Moreover, for the development of new foods, characterization techniques could facilitate the integration of meat alternatives into already existing recipes and accelerate customer acceptance.
In the specific case of cultivated meat, there is no experimental description of its mechanical properties and/or textural behaviour so far today.
Methodology
In this research, different meat samples were selected for a comprehensive comparison of mechanical properties between natural, processed, and cultured meat: commercial processed Frankfurt-style sausages, processed turkey breast cold cut, non-processed raw breast chicken and Frankfurt-style sausage made of cultivated meat.
All samples were purchased from local Spanish markets and cultivated meat was provided by Biotech Foods. None of these products were frozen and they were kept at 4 ºC. During storage, special precautions were taken to ensure that the samples did not lose their original moisture content, especially for the non-processed chicken. Before testing, they were taken out of the fridge and kept at room temperature for 1 h.
This study used two complementary techniques: Texture Profile Analysis and Rheology. The first one is a two-consecutive compression test that compare material response between both test and the second one analyses the viscoelastic properties of the material. In addition, this work also presents a statistical analysis suitable for a comparison of different types of meat samples.
Main conclusion
This methodology has proven to provide valuable information for the development and optimization of cultivated meat product processing strategies and has helped to unveil some of the unknown parameters in such an incipient field.
In a quantitative and rapid manner, using the proposed methods (TPA and Rheology), researchers can adjust different compositions, additives, or process parameters to mimic mechanical texture properties of meat products that are already accepted by customers.
The complete paper ‘Application of texture analysis methods for the characterization of cultured meat’ (incluir link) is freely available since today at Nature journal.
BioTech Foods is the largest Spanish biotech business project in cultivated meat research and development and one of the first worldwide. Based in San Sebastian, it is currently working on the research and development process using its own technology already in place. The company has received support from the Diputación de Guipúzcoa, the Spanish Government and the European Union.
