The cultivated meat industry currently struggles to create structured meat products like steaks or chicken breasts, primarily due to limited options for edible scaffold materials that support cell growth and provide texture. Most existing scaffolds are either animal-derived or synthetic, which restricts product variety and scalability. A systematic exploration of plant, fungal, and microbial-based alternatives could unlock new possibilities for affordable, diverse, and sustainable cultivated meat products.

Exploring Novel Scaffold Materials

One way to address this challenge is by identifying and testing naturally adhesive, edible materials that can serve as scaffolds. This could involve:

• Building a database of potential plant, fungal, and microbial materials with suitable structural properties
• Laboratory testing for key characteristics like cell compatibility, adhesion strength, and post-culture edibility
• Developing processing methods to optimize these materials for large-scale production

The ideal materials would not only support cell growth but also contribute nutritional value and enable complex meat textures that consumers recognize.

Stakeholder Benefits and Implementation

This approach could benefit multiple groups:

• Cultivated meat companies could expand their product lines beyond ground meat
• Food ingredient suppliers might commercialize new scaffold materials
• Consumers could access more affordable and varied meat alternatives

An implementation strategy might begin with material screening and small-scale testing, then progress to optimizing processing methods and conducting full cell culture trials with industry partners. Regulatory approval pathways would need consideration, particularly for novel food materials.

Differentiation from Existing Approaches

Compared to current options like collagen-based or synthetic scaffolds, plant and fungal-derived materials could offer several advantages:

• Lower production costs compared to animal-derived scaffolds
• Greater variety in texture possibilities than decellularized plant structures
• Better consumer acceptance than synthetic alternatives

By systematically exploring this underexamined category of materials, the cultivated meat industry might overcome one of its most significant technical bottlenecks.