Cultured meat: Scientists develop a new technique using soy protein to create meat

Comparing their lab-grown meat with just the soy protein scaffold, the scientists were able to recapitulate some of the physical attributes and taste of real meat.

JACKSON RYAN: In a new study, published in the journal Nature Food, researchers in Israel detail the creation of a 3D scaffold carved out of textured soy protein, an edible byproduct of soybean oil production. Their creation acts like a skeleton for bovine cells to grow around, creating beef-like muscle tissue that when fried or baked — three volunteers say — had “a pleasant meaty flavour” and it adequately replicated the texture of a meat bite…

The process of developing the lab-grown meat is markedly different to the one used by Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. Those meat alternative manufacturers build out their offerings using soy and potato proteins. They’ve earned plaudits for building a plant-based offering that still tastes like the real thing, even though structurally it doesn’t much resemble meat.

Cultured meat is a little different — it aims to create meat on the molecular level. Scientists believe its possible to coax cells from cows or chickens into becoming particular muscle tissues but to mould them into a physical, 3D-approximation of a cut of meat, you need a scaffold.

That’s where the textured soy protein comes in. The edible material is porous, like a sponge, which gives cells space to adhere and grow and it can also be shaped in the lab easily… Comparing their lab-grown meat with just the soy protein scaffold showed the team had recapitulated some of the physical attributes of real meat. SOURCE…

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