Pea Protein-Rich Scaffolds Support 3D Bovine Skeletal Muscle Formation for Cultivated Meat Application

In recent years, intensive efforts made to harness tissue engineering techniques to develop cultivated meat. Sustainable meat substitutes are a promising solution for the expected world food shortage; however, multiple challenges still pose barriers to the mass, low-cost production of nutritious cultivated meat. This work is focused on the development of edible nutritious 3D scaffolds for the production of bovine muscle tissue for cultivated meat. Protein-rich scaffolds composed of pea protein are prepared using mold-casting and bioprinting techniques. The plant-based scaffolds supported bovine satellite cells' attachment, growth, and differentiation into muscle tissue without the need for coating agents or high-cost components. The presented pea-protein-rich scaffolds are of high nutritional value, with low allergenicity, and can be processed under low fabrication costs, which can significantly advance the commercial production of nutritious and sustainable cultivated meat.