Sustainable aligned gelatin-chitosan cryogel scaffolds as a cost-effective platform for steak-like cultured meat

초록

Cultured meat, produced by cultivating animal cells ex vivo to form three-dimensional (3D) tissues, offers a promising alternative to conventional meat, addressing critical environmental and ethical concerns associated with traditional meat production. Despite recent technological advancements, cultured meat production has predominantly been limited to ground meat forms due to the lack of sustainable, edible, and cost-effective scaffolds capable of replicating the complex architecture of real meat. In this study, we present an edible scaffold with aligned porous microstructures, developed through unidirectional freezing of gelatin/chitosan cryogels (GEL/CS-ACs). We employed fish gelatin and shrimp shell-derived chitosan, eliminating reliance on livestock farming and promoting sustainable bioresource utilization. By systemically adjusting the gelatin-to-chitosan ratio and degree of crosslinking, we tailored the physicochemical properties of the scaffolds, including biocompatibility, structural integrity, and mechanical strength. The optimized GEL/CS-ACs effectively supported the adhesion, proliferation, and myogenic differentiation of bovine muscle satellite cells, facilitating the fabrication of steak-like cultured meat that closely mimics the anisotropic muscle fiber alignment and textural properties of conventional beef. These results demonstrate the potential of GEL/CS-ACs as edible and economical scaffolds for advancing the cost-effective production of cultured meat with steak-like properties.

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