SBIR Phase II: Meat substitutes combining cultured animal cells with plant-based fibers

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛影响是促进可持续和合乎道德的肉类替代品的发展。大多数人都尝试过或认识一些尝试过植物性肉类的人。尽管众说纷纭，但大多数人都承认，用植物制作的肉类并不能准确地再造出来，尤其是像鸡胸肉和牛腰肉这样未经加工的整块肉。问题是，植物性肉类是否能在质地、味道和营养方面更像动物肉类。一种方法是测试植物性肉类在与培养的动物细胞结合时是否有所改善。为了解决这一假设，该项目将通过开发将培养的动物细胞与纤维植物为基础的支架相结合的方法，促进对现实植物基肉的技术理解。通过找出提高植物性肉类需要多少动物细胞，以及添加什么类型的动物细胞，该项目将有助于为这个新兴市场确定商业化战略。该项目将测试将培养的动物细胞添加到以植物为基础的全切肉中的方法。动物细胞的生产成本很高，而且改善植物性肉类所需的每种细胞类型的数量尚不清楚。例如，需要多少肌肉细胞、脂肪细胞或皮肤细胞才能使植物性鸡胸肉味道更好？添加单元格的最佳方法是什么？不同类型的细胞，如肌肉、脂肪或皮肤，是如何被放置在正确的位置的？还有哪些植物来源的添加剂可以提高培养细胞的风味？这些问题可以通过制作具有真正肉类质地的植物性肉类，并测试将动物细胞加入其中的不同方法来回答。与动物骨骼肌纤维大小相同的食品级植物蛋白纤维将像肌肉组织一样被包装在一起，以复制传统肉类的结构和质地。然后加入动物细胞，以增强味道、香气和营养。该项目将专注于开发将动物细胞添加到植物性猪肉、鸡肉和牛肉中的方法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is the advancement of sustainable and ethically produced meat alternatives. Most people have tried or know someone who has tried plant-based meats. Opinions vary but most people acknowledge that meats made from animals are not accurately recreated using plants, especially for unprocessed whole cuts like chicken breasts and beef tenderloins. The question remains if plant-based meat can be more like animal meat in terms of texture, taste, and nutrition. One approach is to test if plant-based meats improved when they are combined with cultured animal cells. To address this hypothesis, this project will advance the technological understanding of realistic plant-based meats by developing methods to combine cultured animal cells with fibrous plant-based scaffolds. By finding out how many animal cells are needed to enhance plant-based meats, and what types of animal cells to add, this project will help define commercialization strategies for this emerging market. This project will test methods for adding cultured animal cells to plant-based whole cut meats. Animal cells are expensive to produce, and the quantity of each cell type needed to improve plant-based meats is not known. For example, what is the number of muscle cells, fat cells, or skin cells needed to make a plant-based chicken breast taste better? What are the best ways to add cells? How do different cell types like muscle, fat, or skin get placed in the right spots? What other plant-derived additives can enhance the flavor that cultured cells may provide? These questions can be answered by making plant-based meats with real meat texture and testing different methods of incorporating animal cells into them. Food-grade plant protein fibers that are the same size as animal skeletal muscle fibers will be packed together like muscle tissue to replicate the structure and texture of conventional meat. Animal cells will then be added to enhance the taste, aroma, and nutrition. This project will focus on developing methods to add animal cells to plant-based pork, chicken, and beef.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.