Researchers Develop 'Meat-Tremella' Hybrid Food Using Mushroom Scaffolds and Fatty Acids to Enhance Cultured Pork
Researchers have successfully developed a novel cell-based food product named 'Meat-Tremella,' which combines porcine muscle stem cells with a mushroom-derived polysaccharide scaffold. This innovative approach utilizes arachidic acid, a natural fatty acid, to significantly boost myogenesis and myotube formation in the porcine muscle stem cells. The team integrated this biochemical stimulus with a three-dimensional scaffold made from Tremella fuciformis polysaccharides and sodium alginate, creating a cohesive, protein-enriched structure suitable for culinary applications. This development addresses a key challenge in cellular agriculture: the progressive degradation of myogenic potential in muscle stem cells during serial passaging, which limits the quantity and quality of muscle fibers produced. By identifying food-grade signaling molecules like arachidic acid and using biocompatible physical supports, the researchers aim to sustain late-passage cell maturation and improve the efficiency of cultured meat p...
