Crusting-fabricated soy protein-based scaffolds yield three-dimensional muscle tissues for cultured chicken meat production

Abstract

Crusting fabrication is a non-chemical, non-machine intensive method of fabricating edible soy-based scaffolds. Pure soy homogenate (Y2R)- and soy homogenate with 1% vegetable glycerol (Y2G)-based scaffolds were developed to produce edible scaffolds for cultured meat production. Spontaneous folding of scaffolds during incubation suggests high biocompatibility for tissue development. Both Y2R and Y2G exhibited surface structures that potentially provide adhesion points for myogenic cells supported by their non-significant difference in cell seeding efficiency. However, Y2G generated superior results in terms of collagen content and tissue yield compared to Y2R. The expression of relevant myogenic biomarkers revealed non-significant differences in desmin and myogenin, albeit relatively high myoblast determination protein 1 expression in Y2R (p < 0.05). This suggests active differentiation even after 21 days of total incubation. Y2G allowed a greater accumulation of collagen and overall cell mass, confirming the advantageousness of a smaller pore size to three-dimensional tissue formation. In terms of cultivated chicken meat production, both Y2R and Y2G proved useful as edible scaffolds, with greater preference for Y2R, considering the absence of chemical additives during its fabrication process.