Smart food from oat and cultured muscle cells
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | SP SVERIGES TEKNISKA FORSKNINGSINSTITUT AB - SP Food and Bioscience, Göteborg |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 500 000 |
| Project duration | April 2016 - November 2016 |
| Status | Completed |
Important results from the project
Global meat consumption per capita doubled between 1961 and 2009,and we are currently eating more meat than is sustainable for our environment and health. The project has developed an environment friendly concept based a small amount of muscle cells cultivated on a scaffold of plant based protein from Sweden. We have shown that the muscle cells grow well but need antibiotics since the vegetable proteins are not sufficiently pure. The protein plant base was used for food development and was utilized in dishes such as minced taco meat, casseroles, burgers etc.
Expected long term effects
The climate fingerprint has been estimated to 0.6-2 carbon dioxide equivalents per kg product. The lower limit comes from the base and the upper from cultivated meat. The complete product is expected to end up close to the lower limit due to that substantially larger amount of plant protein base. The plant protein base contains all essential amino acids and 150g is sufficient to reach the RDI of all essential amino acids.
Approach and implementation
The project has combined food and material science, cell biology, tissue engineering and culinary magic in a well-functioning project group. This was possible by assembling experts in the respective field who also had sufficient knowledge of the underlying challenge.