For consumers who are concerned about the environment or animal welfare,
lab-grown meat presents a promising substitute for traditional livestock.
To lower the high production costs related to lab-grown meat,
Chinese researchers have now discovered a way to use plant-based food waste.
To create lab-grown meat,
animal muscle stem cells are grown on a scaffold that enhances the environment for the cells and enables the creation of the proper texture and structure.
It is necessary because,
without it,
lab-grown meat would resemble lumpy mashed potatoes.
Until now,
these scaffolds have been created using a new 3D printing technology that uses synthetic or edible ink made from animal products like collagen and gelatin.
However, the cost of manufacturing these inks is high.
Scientists have now made a new,
cheap edible plant-based ink that can completely absorb into the lab-grown meat product
and is derived from food waste,
like cereal husks.
“Mass-producing cultured meat is a radical and innovative idea.”
According to Professor Jie Sun from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China,
using nutrients from food waste to print scaffolds not only uses and increases the value of the food waste,
but also lessens the environmental pressure from animal agriculture.
Source: Advance Materials
