Leveraging Scaffolding-, Emulsion-, and Extrusion Technologies to Enable the Production of Healthy and Sustainable Composite Meat Alternatives

Research Project, 2023 – 2026

This first generation of meat alternatives do not yet fulfill broad consumer demands on eating quality traits including structure, juiciness, and tenderness, and often contains high proportions of unhealthy saturated fatty acids.
Thus, the aim of this project is to develop critical scientific understanding that could pave the way for production of the next generation of meat alternatives by leveraging scaffolding, emulsion, and extrusion technologies. In WP 1, we will investigate the possibility of integrating plant-based scaffolds and animal cells to produce structured cultivated meats. In WPs 2-3, we will combine emulsion and extrusion technologies to provide plant protein-based meat alternatives with the tenderness and juiciness they are lacking, which is currently an outstanding challenge the industry is facing. In addition, we will explore the possibilities of using cultivated meats to further provide them with muscle meat-like texture. In WP 4, we will use locally attractive Swedish ingredients to produce hybrid meat alternatives based on the newfound knowledge from WPs 1-3. WP 5 will be focused on dissemination of acquired knowledge, identification of potential collaborators, and preparation for taking the knowledge derived to higher TRL-levels together with industrial collaborators. The project is expected to uncover the potential of producing the next generation of healthy and sustainable meat alternatives applied to different raw materials from Sweden and beyond.