Lotus fiber-derived scaffolds for enhanced cultured meat production: Quality and sustainability

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

The expanding global population intensifies demand for sustainable protein sources. Cell-cultured meat (CM) offers a promising alternative to conventional meat production but faces challenges in scalability and food-grade scaffold design. Current scaffolds often fail to replicate muscle tissue's structural and mechanical properties or support large-scale CM production. Moreover, the sensory and nutritional qualities of CM remain understudied. Here, we developed a novel lotus fiber-based natural plant fiber (NPF) scaffold mimicking native muscle tissue architecture. Porcine muscle stem cells (pMuSCs) were cultured on the NPF scaffold (pMuSCs-NPF), and their viability, proliferation, and differentiation were evaluated. The NPF scaffolds exhibited high biocompatibility and promoted pMuSCs alignment and differentiation into organized myotubes, as evidenced by enhanced expression of myogenic markers (MYOD, MYOG, MyHC) and extracellular matrix (ECM) components (desmin, fibronectin). Multi-omics analyses revealed substantial upregulation of genes and proteins associated with muscle development and ECM remodeling in pMuSCs-NPF compared to conventional plastic culture. Sensory and nutritional analyses indicated that the resulting CM closely resembled traditional meat in appearance, texture, and nutritional profile, with comparable levels of protein and essential amino acids. Moreover, t

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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