Singapore scientists create cell-based scaffolding for cheaper, sustainable cultured meat

03 May 2023 --- Singapore continues to make trailblazing moves cementing its position as a food innovation leader in the cultured meat space. Scientists at the National University of Singapore are developing an affordable, sustainable and edible cell culture scaffold while Float Foods is launching a plant-based poached egg and egg yolk.

Singapore is also pushing the boundaries in terms of regulation by pioneering regulatory frameworks ahead of other technology cutting-edge nations like Israel, the US or South Korea. 

Scaling scaffolds
Cultured scaffolds are usually made from synthetic or animal-based materials that are either expensive or inedible. This prompted Professor Huang Dejian, deputy head of the National University of Singapore Department of Food Science and Technology, to seek plant protein alternatives. 

“By using readily available cereal prolamins as biomaterials for high-precision 3D printing technology, we open up a new method for manufacturing edible and structured scaffolds to produce cultured muscle meat slices with fibrous qualities,” Professor Dejian notes.

Plant proteins are biodegradable and biocompatible with animal cells, making them fit for food consumption and for culturing meat.

“Scaffolds made from plant proteins are edible and have diverse and variable peptide sequences that can facilitate cell attachment, induce differentiation, and speed up the growth of meat. In contrast, synthetic scaffolds such as plastic beads used for cultured meat have no functional group, which makes it difficult for animal cells to attach and proliferate,” he explains.

“In addition, synthetic scaffolds are not edible and extra steps are required to separate the scaffolds from the meat culture,” he continues.

Making the scaffold
Dejian and his team use cereal prolamins. Prolamins are a family of plant storage proteins with low nutritional value that are generated as waste in the starch and vegetable oil industries. 

When compared to standard polycaprolactone scaffolds, pig cells seeded onto the prolamin much faster. (Image Credit: NUS).The researchers mixed the prolamins from corn, barley and rye flour and used high-precision 3D printing technology – electrohydrodynamic printing specifically. 

When compared to standard polycaprolactone scaffolds, pig cells seeded onto the prolamin much faster, making them feasible for cultured meat production. The researchers managed to produce an actual slice of meat culturing pig skin cells, verifying the potential of prolamin-based scaffolds.

Future studies will be needed to determine how the particular structure and composition of prolamin constructs impact the growth of animal stem cells and how they form muscle tissue. 

“Moreover, we need to ensure the resulting meat products are market-ready, with safety profiles that will satisfy rigorous regulatory demands and nutritional compositions that will fulfill recommended dietary needs,” says Professor Dejian.

“Of course, they need to be appetizing, too. Flavor, aroma and texture need to be carefully calibrated to compete with traditionally farmed meat products,” he highlights.

In the US, some cell-based meat businesses are also working on alternatives to traditional scaffolds. Fork & Good uses a patented bioprocess that allows for increased yields and density in production. Meanwhile, Matrix F.T. is working to scale plant-based nanofiber scaffolds and microcarriers.

First Asia plant-based poached egg
Meanwhile, Float Foods unveiled a plant-based and egg yolk made with legumes with 50% less saturated fats than a chicken egg and cholesterol-free.

The product is marketed as ‘ready-to-heat- in minutes,’ allowing it to streamline restaurant and other foodservice operations.Float Foods unveiled a plant-based and egg yolk made with legumes.

Egg alternatives are especially welcomed in a historic year for egg prices, which have reached record levels in several markets and have shaken the global supply chain for many months. Moreover, Singapore has to import the practical totality of its eggs from abroad, making it vulnerable to trade disruptions.

Last year, Malaysia temporarily halted its chicken exports to Singapore, creating a logistical nightmare for the nation to obtain eggs, as Malaysia provides 74% of Singapore’s hen shell eggs. 

The world’s alt-garden
The island nation’s limited land and resources make it dependent on food imports and geopolitical uncertainties, which lead the country to take a proactive approach toward securing food alternatives.

In conversation with cell-based meat leaders Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms and the Singapore’s Future Ready Food Safety Hub (Fresh) FoodIngredientsFirst explored how Singapore, the “Garden City,” is creating the conditions for cultivated meat to flourish and why other regions are working to establish similar regulatory frameworks.

Singapore companies are also receiving governmental support to develop insect protein innovations.

By Marc Cervera