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John Se Kit Yuen Jr, Michael K Saad, Ning Xiang, Brigid M Barrick, Hailey DiCindio, Chunmei Li, Sabrina W Zhang, Miriam Rittenberg, Emily T Lew, Kevin Lin Zhang, Glenn Leung, Jaymie A Pietropinto, David L Kaplan (2023) Aggregating in vitro-grown adipocytes to produce macroscale cell-cultured fat tissue with tunable lipid compositions for food applications eLife 12:e82120 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.82120
Artificial meat is something scientists have tried to perfect with no successful products having entered the market. Artificial or “cultivated” meat uses tissue engineering to recreate the texture and taste of meat for use in food products. Past research has largely focused on recreating the muscle component of real meat but it has been found that the fat in meat is the key to its taste and texture. Consumer testing with natural beef containing varying concentrations of fat showed that the best taste was achieved with approximately 36% fat content. During cooking, fats release compounds that are a major contributor to flavour and fats are responsible for defining species-specific flavours. Creating artificially grown fat is another step towards improving the quality of alternative artificial meat products and offering a more sustainable way to produce meat without animal slaughter. Cultured fat could also be used to improve the taste of existing plant-based meats.
Researchers have now been able to produce large amounts of fat through the artificial growth of cells. These cells are called adipocytes as they are specialised for fat storage and make up the adipose (fat) tissue. The process of artificially creating fat in the lab involves first growing specific types of adipocytes in a thin, single 2D layer. After sufficient fat cells have multiplied, they are mechanically gathered and clustered together using enzymes or gels to form large 3D structures. The 3D fat tissue that was artificially constructed in this experiment was found to be visually similar to natural fat tissue. They were then further tested and it was seen that the texture of the two fat tissues also matched.
Furthermore, this method overcomes one of the key limitations of artificial fat production. When fats are produced as a bulk structure, not all cells, such as those in the centre, are able to efficiently diffuse materials and waste in and out of the cell. The mass transport of oxygen, nutrients and waste is not possible without vessels present throughout the large scale structure as oxygen and nutrients are only able to diffuse through very short distances of dense tissue. Since adipocytes are first grown in thin layers they have easy access to oxygen and nutrients for efficient diffusion into the cells and waste can diffuse easily out of the cells due to shorter diffusion distances. Once the adipocytes have matured sufficiently they can be aggregated into a 3D structure. This approach is especially appropriate for food applications as the cells are not required to sustain life after the bulk tissue has been formed. This allows for lower cost and better scalability than other methods (such as the incorporation of artificially grown vessels into the tissue).
This study provides clear empirical evidence to support this approach for artificial fat production and its effectiveness in recreating the real taste of meat. However, to further test and compare the flavours of artificial fat, natural fat and plant-based alternatives a sensory evaluation panel could be conducted where human participants taste and smell the foods. Scientific processes could also be used to quantitatively analyse the compounds in artificial and natural fats that contribute to their aromas.
Summarised by Nyrika Nooreyezdan
Works Cited:
eLife. “Lab-Grown Fat Could Give Cultured Meat Real Flavor and Texture.” ScienceDaily, 4 Apr. 2023, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230404114244.htm. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
“What Are Adipocytes ?” Byjus.com, byjus.com/question-answer/what-are-adipocytes/. Accessed 18 Apr. 2023.
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