Soy Protein Amyloid Fibril Scaffold for Cultivated Meat Application

It is important to have sustainable and edible scaffolds to produce cultivated meat. In this research, three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds were developed by soy protein amyloid fibrils for cultivated meat applications. Food-safe bio-logical and physical cross-linking methods using microbial transglutaminase and temperature-controlled water vapor anneal-ing technique were employed to crosslink soy protein amyloid fibrils, resulting in the production of 3D scaffolds. The generated 3D scaffolds had pores with sizes ranging from 50 to 250 mu m, porosities of 72-83%, and compressive moduli of 3.8-4.2 kPa, depending on the type of soy protein used in the process (beta- conglycinin (7S), glycinin (11S) and soy protein isolate (SPI)). When present with pepsin, these scaffolds can degrade within an hour but remain stable in phosphate-buffered saline for at least 30 days. The soy protein amyloid fibril scaffolds enabled C2C12 mouse skeletal myoblasts proliferate and differentiate without adding cell adhesive proteins or other coatings. The results demonstrate the potential of abundant and inexpensive soy protein amyloid fibrils to be utilized as scaffold materials for cultivated meat in the food industry.

Automated summary

The research focuses on the development of sustainable and edible scaffolds using soy protein amyloid fibrils for cultivated meat production. The scaffolds were crosslinked using microbial transglutaminase and temperature-controlled water vapor annealing, resulting in 3D porous scaffolds. These soy protein amyloid fibril scaffolds showed potential for use in the food industry as they had suitable pore sizes, porosities, and compressive moduli, and could degrade within a short time.