Dr Melanie Oey inspects microalgae which could reduce the cost of cultivated meat production.
(Photo credit: The University of Queensland
)
Key points
- Waste from the cultivated meat process is used to grow microalgae, which absorb leftover nutrients to produce oxygen.
- Mammalian cells use this oxygen to grow and release carbon dioxide, which is utilised by the microalgae.
- The faster-growing, nutrient-rich microalgae are processed, and the solution fed back into the system, reducing the need for expensive growth media.
Researchers found microalgae can be grown using waste from cultivated meat production, before being processed and fed back into the system, replacing some of the expensive ingredients needed to grow new meat cells.
Dr Melanie Oey from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience said reducing costs was critical to making cultivated meat commercially viable.
“From our calculations we estimate we can reduce growth media costs somewhere between 60 to 90 per cent,” Dr Oey said.
“The algae could absorb left over nutrients from the cultivated meat waste while supplying oxygen to meat cells.
“The nutrients harvested from the microalgae could be returned to the system, creating a self-sustaining circular bioeconomy.
“This greatly reduces the need for expensive growth factors and amino acids, which remain one of the largest hurdles getting cultivated meat into supermarkets and onto dinner plates.”
In testing, researchers found the system produced more microalgae than was needed for nutrient recycling, potentially creating additional commercial opportunities for cultivated meat producers.
Cultivated meat is grown from animal cells and is being developed as a potentially more sustainable and animal-friendly way to produce foods such as beef, lamb, pork and chicken.
Only 5 countries have approved the sale of cultivated meat, with Australia and New Zealand the latest to give the green light.
Through an Australian Economic Accelerator grant, UQ researchers are working with cultivated meat producer Magic Valley, which supplied waste material for the project, to explore how the closed-loop system could be integrated into large-scale production facilities.
Magic Valley Head of Research and Development Andrew Laslett believed the research could be transformative for the cultivated meat industry.
“By helping reduce media costs, one of the sector’s most significant barriers, this innovation could accelerate the pathway to commercial-scale cultivated meat production,” he said.
Read the research in Food Research International.
Collaboration and acknowledgements
The research was conducted in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Pforzheim University.
