Mammalian cell culture performance can be limited by oxygen and carbon dioxide levels or by shear stress associated with sparging and mixing. The use of protein-based oxygen carriers could help to address these issues in the context of a cultivated meat bioprocess.
Consumer and sensory research can help companies and academic researchers better understand seafood consumers' needs and desires. Understanding consumers' needs will allow alternative fish researchers to ask and prioritize the correct biological and technical questions. Appropriate and thoughtful prioritization can avoid unnecessarily diluting resources in the short term and ensure that the expanding product landscape in the long term is well-matched to customer expectations.
Creating a catalog of molecules responsible for the characteristic flavor of a species will enable alternative protein product manufacturers to create products that more accurately replicate the sensory experience of animal meats, removing a major barrier to their widespread adoption.
Optimizing bioreactor and bioprocessing technologies for the needs of the cultivated meat industry has the potential to substantially reduce the cost of cultivated meat production. Innovations in cultivated meat bioprocessing can be broadly classified into strategies focused on food-grade operation, process intensification, and the exploration of novel bioreactor geometries.
There has been little publicly announced R&D and commercial effort to develop cultivated, fermentation-derived, or hybrid surimi. Compared to other meat products, surimi is likely to be by far one of the easiest to replicate well.
Because alternative meat's fat content and fatty acid profile can be more easily controlled than conventional meat's, there is an opportunity to alter fat content for nutritional benefits. Additional research is needed to understand the sensory consequences of such manipulations, potentially allowing alternative meat producers to produce "nutritionally enhanced" products without compromising on sensory quality.
The cost and environmental impact of cultivated meat are driven by the cell culture media formulation and its conversion efficiency into meat. Metabolic modeling and engineering techniques can aid media formulation and ensure its optimal use. Targeted optimization will improve the cost-competitiveness and sustainability of cultivated meat production.
Growth factors (GFs) can be incorporated into scaffolds as a strategy for both reducing costs and improving product quality of cultivated meat. Open-access research is needed to test the feasibility of this strategy and determine the most appropriate methods.
The inclusion of fat and marbling in cultivated meat is likely to increase its flavor, texture, and consumer appeal. Structural approaches using edible microcarriers, hydrogels, and 3D bioprinting present promising options to support fat cell growth and reduce buoyancy in culture for integrating fat into cuts of meat, but more research is needed to optimize conditions.
Hybrid products are a promising means to improve the cost and sustainability of animal-derived meat while improving the taste of plant proteins. Promoting the health benefits of hybrids may facilitate consumer acceptance, but more research is needed to identify the optimal blend ratios to increase nutrition without compromising flavor.
