CULTURE MEAT: AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF NUTRITION IN FUTURE

CULTURE MEAT: AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF NUTRITION IN FUTURE

Santanu Nath¹, Susmita Majumder²,

1. Division of Livestock Products Technology, ICAR-IVRI Bareilly (U.P.)
2. Division of Physiology & Climatology, ICAR-IVRI Bareilly (U.P.)

INTRODUCTION:

From ancient time meat is one of the significant sources of protein for human.By 2050, the world’s population is projected to increase to 9.5 billion.Increased demand for proteins, especially those of animal origin, is anticipated to have a detrimental effect on the environment by increasing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and necessitating increased water usage and land exploitation for their production(H.Westhoek, et al. 2011).14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions are thought to be caused by the production of livestock (Gerber et al., 2013).Beef cattle account for over half of all agricultural emissions in the United States, which total around 9%. (US EPA, 2019).Additionally, it has been claimed that excessive intake of red and processed meat is linked to unfavourable health results(National Institutes of Health,2019 and National Cancer Institute, 2019).

Global meat consumption hasquadrupled over last fifty years.The world produces more than 320 million tons of meat each year.Meat consumption is increasing @4.7 million tonsand 80 billion animals are slaughtered for meat every year. By 2050, meat consumption is projected to increase by 73% (FAO 2011 and Ritchie 2017).

Lab grown meat or culture meat may define as “The meat produced by culturing of stem cells outside (in vitro) the food animal from which it is derived i.e instead of slaughtered animals”(Bhat et. al., 2015).Some common synonyms of lab grown meat like – In vitro Meat, Healthy Meat, Slaughter-free Meat, Vat-grown Meat, Cell-based Meat,Clean Meat, Cultivated Meat, Synthetic Meat (Wikipedia.com).

Raising an animal demands a lot of land, water, and other resources, it is difficult to feed the world’s expanding population.So, one of the alternatives to the production of meat from farmed animals is meat produced in laboratories.Cell-based meats are less likely to be contaminated by infectious diseases than cattle animals, making them more environmentally friendly in terms of greenhouse gas output. The ability to control the nutritional value of cultured meat made it special.The culture media and nutrients used for meat cultivation are key factors in the success of lab-grown meat manufacturing. The goal of lab-grown meat is to create a product that is an exact reproduction of traditional meat in all respects, including texture, flavour, nutrition, aroma, and most crucially, physical appearance and importantly without causing any adverse health effect to the consumers (Post MJ, 2012).

Stem cells from a living cow are taken and nourished in the lab to produce muscular tissue for lab-grown meat. Consumers cannot now purchase lab-grown meat because the technology is still too expensive, but this is likely to change in the upcoming years.

 DIFFERENT METHODS OF PRODUCING MEAT IN LAB:

Culture meat production is a tissue engineering based cellular agriculture.The four important major inputs needed for cell-based meat production—a cell source, cell culture media, bioreactor, and scaffold(Post MJ, 2012).

Some common methods used for production of culture meats like-

1. Cell culture or scaffolding technique (Sharma et. al., 2015)
2. Self‑organizing or tissue culture technique (Gaydhaneet. al., 2018)
3. Organ printing (Hopkins P.D., 2015)
4. Bio‑photonics (Gaydhaneet. al., 2018)
5. Nanotechnology driven (Bhat et. al., 2015)

CHOICE OF CELL:

Choice of cell for production of lab- grown meat is an important step. Following point always keep in mind at the time of choosing cell for culturing in lab-

• Proposed cell type: Embryonic stem (ES) cells, myosatellite cells and specialized cells in muscle tissue are preferred as a source of muscle cells. (Pandurangan and Kim, 2015).
• ES cell lines have unlimited regenerative potential, but mutations can accumulate with generations and need specific induction to produce muscle cells. (Amit al., 2000)
• Myosatellite cells although are limited in regeneration but can more closely mimic myogenesis (Bach al., 2003)
• Myosatellite Cells recapitulate the process of myogenesis with high efficacy, unlike the embryonic stem cells. (Shruti al., 2005)
• The major concern about adult stem cell is their tendency towards malignant transformation in long-term culture. (Lazennec, 2008)

MERITS OF CULTURED/IN VITRO MEAT:

• Designer and healthy meat.
• Fast production.
• Animal welfare.
• Reduction in resource use, environment friendly.
• Public support.
• Availability of exotic meat.
• Alternate protein source.
• Reforestation and wildlife protection: Reductionin land use opens the prospect for land reforestation and restoration of endangered species.
• Vegan meat: People who are vegetarian due to moral and health issues can eat artificial meat as it not associated with killing of animals and are healthy foods.
• Space missions and settlements Controlled ecological life support system would provide fresh food to the astronauts and also deal with waste, and provide oxygen and water.

DRAWBACKS AND DANGERS:

• Sensorial characteristics.
• Alienation to nature.
• Cost of production and economic disturbances.
• Social acceptance.
• Impact on carbon footprint.
• Ethical concerns.

CONCLUSIONS & FUTURE PROSPECT:

Although cultured meat appears to be beneficial for feeding the expanding population, there are also drawbacks, cultural obstacles, and financial difficulties that must be solved.While meat is a very important item of human diet, degrading ecological balance is also a huge concern.Culture meat may be designed favorably towards human health by eliminating/reducing harmful components and adding/improving the useful or therapeutic components.Lab-grown meat is still under development as far as commercial viability is concerned.Full-fledged commercialized lab-grown meat may tremendously potentiate food industries, but most likely redefine the principles of whole animal husbandry.

Culture meat may play a pivotal role in minimizing animal sufferings, but public acceptance is still a hurdle.Most importantly, economically sustainable production protocol must be developed, and sensory characteristics must be improved.It may be considered as a breakthrough for securing “sustainable development”.

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