On July 29th, 2025, the KHNI hosted an expert scientific webinar; “Biotech at the table: Enzyme technology in modern nutrition”.  The expert panel broadcast from Kerry’s Biotechnology and Innovation centres in Leipzig Germany and Naas, Ireland, shaped the evolution of enzyme engineering and the advancements of machine learning and artificial intelligence in this field.

Enzymes play a leading role in sustainable nutrition
Dr. Niall Higgins began the webinar with insights into how biotechnology is radically transforming food processing, food production and food innovation through biotech solutions such as enzymes.

Enzymes have become an increasingly important ally due to their high efficiency, specificity and their ability to create a more efficient food system.  As nature’s biocatalysts, Dr. Higgins emphasized that enzymes are a multifaceted technology enabling operational efficiencies, improving product quality, extending shelf life, valorising waste streams, unlocking nutrients and more. Dr. Higgins used case studies to demonstrate that enzymes will continue to play a leading role by providing better nutrition and improved cost-effective processes that are ultimately having less impact on the planet’s resources.

Enzymes from discovery to disruption
Enzyme engineering is a highly dynamic and rapidly advancing field.  Dr. Andreas Vogel explored the evolution of enzymes through time from discovery to disruption.  He highlighted where enzymes were first isolated from natural sources, followed by directed enzyme evolution which facilitates the tailoring of enzyme properties for specific industrial applications.  However, directed enzyme evolution also has its challenges.  Dr. Vogel highlighted that smart strategies are needed to navigate these complexities, and provided a case study where enzyme engineering not only improves food production but also transforms consumer taste experiences.

Artificial intelligence to develop next generation of enzymes
Next Dr. Sebastien Bartsch brought our attention to a Nobel Prize winning breakthrough in 2022 with AlphaFold 2 which predicts enzyme structures with high precision and, since then, available enzyme structures grew significantly compared with the previous 60 years.

Dr. Bartsch brought us through what lies ahead with “next gen” enzymes.  He considered why AI does not simply design the best possible enzymes for any given applications as, they are dynamic, constantly moving, and often have different conformational states.  Therefore, despite AI technology developing at an extremely fast pace, Dr. Bartsch pointed out that designing an active enzyme with a set of different features under industrially relevant conditions remains a challenge.

Consequently, there is an exciting future ahead for enzymes where continuous rapid improvements in bioinformatics, de novo protein design, AI, and tools like AlphaFold, will make significant strides in predicting protein structures and designing enzymes more efficiently.

Dr. Higgins closed out the webinar recapping on today’s session where:
• importance of continuous advances in biotechnology was emphasized.
• understanding of the current role of enzymes in the food and beverage industry was deepened.
• the impact of new-to-world enzyme solutions will influence and redefine the future of the food and beverage industry, by leveraging the rapid and recent biotechnological advances.

Finally, ending the webinar was a lively Q&A session where viewers asked questions and the team provided their insights.

For more information on this topic and many others visit The Kerry Health and Nutrition Institute.  You are welcome to Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay up to date with these insights and more.

Recent advances in synthetic biotechnological processes such as precision fermentation and enzyme & strain engineering are proving pivotal in the development of future sustainable nutrition directly influencing many of the global challenges such as improving the efficiency of agricultural processes, reducing food waste and addressing consumer demands for healthier, more sustainable products without any compromise on taste.

Enzymes; Nature’s Biocatalysts enable Sustainable Nutrition

On this sustainability journey, enzymes have become an increasing important ally due to their high efficiency, specificity and their ability to create a more efficient food system. Used in food production for centuries and produced commercially since the mid-20th century, enzymes, as nature’s biocatalysts, are a multifaceted biotechnology for the food and beverage industry, enabling operational efficiencies, improving product quality, extending shelf life, valorizing waste streams, unlocking nutrients and more.

To maximise their impact, enzymes must be highly efficient & economically competitive in their industrial settings, this requires finely tuned biocatalysts that are not only robust and stable but highly selective under industrial process conditions. And here lies the exciting part, scientists have only just reached the tip of the iceberg in understanding and exploiting the potential of enzymes. Remarkably, only a tiny fraction of all potentially available enzymes from natural resources have been discovered and utilized to date. When you couple this incredible potential with increased consumer focus on health, environment, sustainability and the ongoing research and innovation focus on enzymes optimisation, it is clear that the future of enzymes is to positively disrupt our food system by building a more efficient and sustainable food chain.

Image from: Industrial Enzyme Applications (2019)

To date, food and beverage manufacturers have utilized to great effect the power of well-known enzymes in application, but to truly transform food production, novel functionalities are required. As a result, there is a new wave of directed evolutionary enzyme technology to deliver improved functionalities to new or existing enzymes, which enable food producers to create healthier, tastier products that have less impact on the environment.

For example, the food and beverage industry is now on an on-going quest for safer and cleaner methods to produce various compounds such as sweeteners, emulsifiers, pre- and postbiotics and fermented ingredients. Inspired by the work of individuals such as Frances Arnold (2018 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry), this has triggered a focus on harnessing enzymes and enzymatic cascades that will complement or even replace bulk chemical ingredient and high energy processes with more natural and sustainable options.

Optimizing enzymes through bio-engineering

Enzyme Engineering allows the optimization of enzyme properties through introduction of changes into the amino acid sequence of the protein. These properties include enzyme activity, selectivity, stability as well as the appropriate substrate scope and concentration. This begins with the use of enzyme variant libraries which are analysed in a high-throughput format for the desired properties. Bioinformatics is used to design genes, analyze structural and sequence information and finally store the data sequence and function in a database. The latter allows us to learn from the gathered data using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Using this variant information coupled with molecular biological methods in hand, it is possible to train microbial strains, which grow to high cell densities in large fermentation vessels to produce an enzyme from a different origin to high titers. Several host organisms from bacterial, yeast and fungal kingdom have developed enzyme production strains. They differ in their capability for the functional production of a foreign enzyme, which depends on the source and nature of the enzyme. As there is no universal production strain, an enzyme producer needs a portfolio of different strains and the expertise to cultivate them to high densities and to maximise enzyme production.

Challenges to accept GM technologies.

However, there are many challenges regarding the implementation and acceptance of such technological developments. One such challenge will be the opinion of the consumer, who ultimately needs to be convinced that future food will be in some part produced by engineered microorganisms. Interestingly the utilization of engineered non-wild-type microorganisms may sound futuristic but there are already many examples of commercial products from engineered microbes. For example, in food production, engineered microbes can be used to produce specific enzymes to help degrade acrylamide in coffee extracts or to more efficiently produce natural high-intensity sweeteners from plants. These examples illustrate the potential for balancing traditional food fermentation practices and modern biotechnologies.

As new enzymes are brought into the food chain, the requirements to meeting food safety regulations is of key and growing concern. Additionally, the rapid and continuous improvement of genomic technologies which are used to characterize and classify production strains (future and current) will significantly impact the regulatory landscape regarding their use in food, feed and beverage applications.

The dynamic landscape of sustainable nutrition is being reshaped by the remarkable strides in enzyme and strain engineering, as well as precision fermentation technologies. The potential for these advancements to revolutionize food and beverage production is substantial, with the promise of enhanced efficiency in agricultural processes, reduced food waste, and the creation of healthier, more sustainable products that cater to evolving consumer preferences. As we navigate the challenges associated with the acceptance of genetically modified technologies and ensure compliance with stringent food safety regulations, the ongoing collaboration between scientists, bioengineers, and regulatory bodies will be pivotal. The fusion of enzyme engineering with cutting-edge bioinfomatic approaches opens new frontiers for the creation of novel enzymes, paving the way for a future where sustainable nutrition is not just a goal but a reality.

Enzymes are proteins produced by all living organisms.  They are biological catalysts which conduct all biochemical reactions. This is a natural part of physiological processes essential for growth and allow life.  When your body wants to transform food such as starch in bread or pasta into energy enzymes are used to convert the starch to simple sugars which can be used by your cells.  Enzymes are efficient, and specific performing typically only one defined reaction over and over again.  The fact that they come from nature means that they act at specific pH and temperature conditions/ranges, which make them sustainable and biodegradable alternatives to chemical processing in the food industry. Industrial enzymes can be extracted from plants or produced by microbial fermentation and purified.

Why are enzymes in our food? The role of enzymes in the food industry

Enzymes have been used in food production for thousands of years.  Our early ancestors discovered that cows stomach could turn milk into cheese.  Today, we use enzymes in food to manufacture of everything from bread, wine, beer, juice and dairy processing and much more besides. In the bakery industry, different type of enzymes can be used as a natural way to keep bread softer for longer, enhance dough tolerance during processing or allow for reduction the egg content. Enzymes also enable manufacturers to use local grains like cassava to make beer and make dairy products suitable for those with lactose intolerance.

Enzymes provide to bakery manufacturers sustainability benefits in terms of food waste but also cost savings

In the bakery industry, different type of enzymes are a natural way to optimize raw material performance despite varying/seasonal quality, enhancing manufacturing efficiencies, softness, moistness, antistaling or desirably sensory properties of baked goods over extended shelf life, reducing additives and energy usage, food loss and food waste, with sustainability benefits. A recent environmental footprint estimated calculation found that (www.epa.gov) just 1 loaf of bread releases 1.15kg of CO2 emissions and uses 194L of water, which is equivalent to the same CO2 emissions from fully charging 140 smart phones and 2 average daily showers.  Delving deeper into food waste, according to United nations environment programme up to 10% of GHG are linked to uneaten food, and 30% of all food produced in wasted, costing the global economy over $900 billion per year.

More especially the various type of bakery enzymes are offering different functionalities. Maltogenic amylase allows to keep bread softer for longer, to extend shelf life, by improving product sensory characteristics and appearance over longer shelf life, prolonging the onset of staling characteristics and reducing likelihood of food being wasted at home. Xylanases are known to improve dough tolerance during processing. Asparaginase, to make baked good healthier by reducing the acrylamide content. Some phospholipases allow to successfully reduces egg content by up in fine bakery applications such as muffins, stirred cakes, whipped cakes, croissants, donuts and brioche, with no change in dough handling or crumb structure versus a full egg recipe, eggs being crucial to bakers because of their specific functional properties and unique contribution to finished product sensory attributes: texture, softness, crumb structure, taste, including “binding”, “aeration”, “emulsification” and “colour”.

How Can Enzymes be Used for Nutrition & Health?

Digestive Enzymes – Reducing Lactose Intolerance Symptoms with Lactase

Lactose, the sugar found in dairy products, can cause problems like bloating and other gastrointestinal discomforts in people with lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance affects a significant amount of people worldwide, especially in places where dairy farming is not common. The incidence of lactose intolerance can be as high as 75% of the population in these areas.

Enzymes can help lactose intolerant individuals enjoy dairy products with minimal side effects. Lactose is a sugar made of two smaller sugars: galactose and glucose. Lactase is an enzyme that cleaves lactose into these two smaller sugars, neither of which cause the negative side effects of lactose in those with lactose intolerance. This is why you see the ingredient ‘lactase’ in lactose-free milks, for example.

Did you know that using lactase can also help with reducing added sugar, though? The breakdown of the lactose sugar molecule gives glucose and galactose.  These sugars have a greater relative sweetness than lactose meaning that lactose free or low-lactose products that have been made with the lactase enzyme are sweeter in taste than those not treated with lactase.  In the food industry this can allow dairy products like yoghurt to be made with a reduced amount of added sugar but with the same taste profile.

Digestive Enzymes – Helping Infants Digest Formula

It is recommended by the world health organisation that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life so as to give the infant the greatest chance of achieving optimal growth, development and health, but for cases where this is not realistic or possible, infant formula is required. Some infants have a hard time digesting certain types of formula, but enzymes can help in a few ways.

Comfort Protein – Infant Milk Formula (IMF)

Comfort infant formulas are made with partially hydrolysed milk proteins which are marketed as “easier to digest” infant formula made from cows milk.  These formulas can be produced using natural enzymes, called proteases, which target proteins and are derived from animal, plant or microbial sources.  Hydrolysis of milk proteins by proteases results in the formation of smaller peptides which are reported to be more readily digested than intact proteins.  In particular, parents of infants suffering from conditions such as colic, cite the use of comfort protein as reducing the severity of symptoms.

Hypoallergenic Formulas (IMF)

Most common IMFs use cow’s milk as a base, but a small percentage of infants are born with cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA).  Formulas sold to address this condition can be divided into two types – those which are extensively hydrolysed (peptide-based) and those which are amino acid based. Extensively hydrolysed proteins for this application are produced via enzymatic hydrolysis where the protease enzyme extensively breaks down the structure of the whey and/or casein protein to smaller peptides.

From the American Academy of Family Physicians:

“Hypoallergenic formulas contain extensively hydrolyzed proteins that are less likely to stimulate antibody production. Infants with milk protein allergy fed hypoallergenic formula have slightly greater weight gain during the first year than infants fed standard formula. In addition, many infants show improvement in atopic symptoms. A few infants continue to have symptoms despite switching to hypoallergenic formula; nonallergenic amino acid–based formulas are effective for these rare cases”

Enzymes in food are important for capitalizing on the plant-based trend

Improving Plant-Based Beverages

The market for nutritional beverage is growing and cereal based beverages such as Horlicks, Bournvita, etc. have traditionally been very popular in certain markets. The plant-based beverage market has continued to grow with milk-alternatives like soy or oat milk.

Enzymes are often used to help make these beverages more acceptable to consumers. For example, plant-based beverages like oat or rice milk can have poor emulsion stability, meaning products might separate out over their shelf life instead of remaining a consistent mixture. Enzymes like amylase can help improve stability of the product. Much like lactase, amylase can also reduce the need for added sugar because the products of starch hydrolysis are sweeter than the starch itself.

If high viscosity is caused by high molecular weight (Mw) beta-glucan, as in the case of a beverage like oat milk, beta-glucanase can be used to make an easier to process, less viscous product. However, since beta-glucan is the fiber associated with health benefits in oats, cleaving beta glucan with an enzyme would likely reduce the potential health benefit. If health benefits and fiber content are a focus, beta glucanase may not be the best solution.

Making Plant-Based Protein Hydrolysates Taste Better

With the rise in demand for plant-based proteins, there has been an increased demand for inexpensive plant-derived protein hydrolysates, owing to their significant potential in nutritional applications. Hydrolysed plant protein (HPP) is most commonly produced via the enzymatic hydrolysis of a plant protein source such as soy, wheat, rice, sunflower, potato and alternative pulse proteins, and are used in a wide variety of food applications such as protein fortified bars and beverages. Protease enzymes are most commonly used in the production of HPPs and under controlled conditions are used maximise protein yields from different plant sources and also to improve taste and sensory attributes.

From a commercial standpoint, plant proteins maintain unique taste attributes, and today’s HPP products are synonymous with bitter, unpleasant tastes often attributed to a high concentration of hydrophobic free amino-acids, smaller peptides and volatile compounds in the HPP mixture. Enzymatic hydrolysis, both pre- and post-hydrolysis can help to significantly improve these undesirable sensory properties of HPPs.

This article was originally published on 15 September 2020. It was updated 19 June 2023 to reflect new information.

As the world continues to confront the coronavirus pandemic, we have a striking opportunity and obligation to create a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable food system. Enzymes can play an important role in this.

Today, our food system is responsible for over 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, with food loss and waste alone accounting for 8-10%.  The pandemic exposed the fragility of our global food supply chains.  From field to fork, unprecedented stresses led to disruption at every level and many weaknesses in our food system were exposed.  The pandemic exposed the fragility of our global food supply system, and now the Ukrainian conflict is further shaking this system.  Ukraine is, in fact, a critical food hub, in particular for wheat and fertilizers.

By 2050, our global population expected to swell to almost 10 billion people and coupled with rising incomes and urbanisation, demand for animal-based protein will increase.  The World Resources Institute has predicted that by 2050, we will require 50% more food and 70% more animal-based protein to feed everyone.

Reducing environmental impact of food production

If we continue with our current-day food production practices and consumption patterns, we would need to convert a landmass twice the size of India to agriculture, leading to significant deforestation and biodiversity loss. It would also result in a failure to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to below 1.5°C.

Food producers all over the world are responding by adopting sustainable practices to reduce their environmental impact. On this sustainability journey, enzymes have become an increasing important ally due to their high efficiency, their specificity and their ability to create a more efficient food production system.

The use of enzymes in food preparations is an age-old process. Humans, unknowingly at first, used enzymes to their advantage for millennia in industries such as cheese making, brewing and bakery.  The term enzyme was first coined in 1877 by Wilhelm Kühne, coming from the Greek word for “in leaven”; while the original purpose of including enzymes in manufacturing processes was to improve the efficiency of the process and reduce cost.  However, it is now well established that enzymes go much further and can unlock significant sustainability benefits and greatly enhance product quality.

How are enzymes used in food production?

In most cases, the enzymes used in food are used as processing aids, where they aid in the manufacturing of the food but do not have a function in the final product.

Improve Product Quality

In the baking industry, different types of enzymes are used to deliver different functionalities and properties to the final product.

• Amylases (bacterial, fungal and maltogenic) improve the gas-retention of fermented dough, keeping the bread fresher, softer, flavoursome for longer, which can lead to less food waste.
• Proteases are important for bread-making because they have a softening effect on dough and make kneading easier.  They are used in large scale production of bread, baked goods, crackers, and waffles as these enzymes reduce mixing time, decrease dough consistency, assure dough uniformity, regulate gluten strength in bread, control bread texture and improve flavour.
• Lipases and phospholipases are also used to improve dough tolerance, significantly increasing bread volume after baking.
• Xylanases are used in baking to hydrolyse arabinoxylans and improve gluten formation.

In brewing applications, haze-negative proteases reduce haze in the final beer and improve shelf-life.  In the animal nutrition industry, alpha-galactosidase have shown to improve nutrient digestibility of feed.

In dairy production, lactase enzymes enable the manufacturing of lactose-free products for lactose-intolerant consumers.

Achieve Operational Efficiencies
Amylase, glucanase, and glucoamylase enzymes are essential for food and beverage manufacturers to speed up production processes and improve finished product yield, therefore significantly lowering energy and water usage.  These enzymes are widely used for producing dairy-alternative plant-based beverages.

The growing preference for plant-based food and beverages requires new enzymes that can allow plant-based protein sources to have similar functionalities to animal-derived protein sources and improve the taste and texture of final products.

Enzymes have the ability to increase the stability of plant-based nutritional beverages, optimize process conditions and enable the production of finished products with a consistent mouthfeel, reduced added sugar and improved taste.

By using these amylase, glucanase and glucoamylase enzymes, manufacturers can reduce production time by 25% and use a wider range of raw materials, allowing improvements in extract yield and increased volume as well as a decreased carbon footprint.

Enable use of local, sustainable raw materials

Enzymes can enable a wider variety of raw materials to be used in different processes. In the brewing industry, the most common brewing grain is barley.  However, it is a cool-season, temperate-climate cereal, and in many parts of the world, it is not widely grown.  The use of exogenous enzymes has enabled brewers to use alternative local grains for brewing such as sorghum, maize, rice and cassava for producing a consumer-acceptable beer at an economically attractive price point.

Thermostable α-amylase for high adjunct brewing, along with glucanase, proteases and glucoamylase enables use of alternative, un-malted, more cost effective local & sustainable raw materials without negatively impacting final product integrity.

The benefits to the local economy of using local grains is significant; it creates employment, provides incomes for local farmers, and supports the overall economy.  For example, cassava is a tuber crop grown primarily in Nigeria, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand, which is rich in available starch. It is underused for sugar production and beer production.

With pressures on the supply and demand of other starches and cereal crops, locally sourced, low-cost cassava represents a potential alternative source of sugar for syrup extract producers, brewers, distillers, confectioners and ethanol producers.

With the optimal application of thermostable amylases and glucoamylase, extracts of the desired quality can be unlocked from the cassava tuber supporting the creation of a high-quality, affordable and sustainable alternative other than that brewed with imported barley.

How do enzymes benefit the environment?

An estimated one third of all food produced is lost or wasted.  The resources and efforts for producing this food is also lost as the food is not used for nutritional benefit.

According to the World Food Program (USA), if we can reverse the trend on food waste, we would save enough food to feed 2 billion people, more than twice the amount of people who are undernourished whilst also making a significant contribution towards reversing climate change.

Enzymes are an increasingly important ally as we all seek to create a more sustainable food system.  Examples include:

• Shelf life extension of foods to significantly reducing food waste
• Transformation of waste streams into value-added products
• Improvement of overall production efficiency and quality of final products. Some industry examples of this in action include:

Brewing Industry

Brewing has environmental challenges both during production and in the waste management phase.  The largest waste by volume is brewers’ spent grain (BSG), followed by yeast.   Approximately 70% of BSG is used as animal feed, but due to its high moisture content and microbial load, its shelf life is extremely short – less than 48 hours.  Around 10% of spent grain goes to produce biogas, and the remaining 20% is landfilled.  Every tonne of BSG in landfill releases 513 kg CO₂ equivalent of greenhouse gases.  This by-product of the brewing process has extraordinary circular economy potential, making it a perfect candidate for upcycling into human food supply, feed or for pharmaceutical purposes.

Exogenous enzymes, such as amylases, proteases and NSP (Non-Starch Polysaccharides Enzymes) can help improve extract yield thereby reducing waste and enabling re-use of waste or by-product like spent grain into value added products.  These enzymes have a great potential to help cereal-based products manufacturers, and in particular breweries, valorise the by-products waste stream and convert it into value-added products by reutilising wasted proteins and fibre molecules.
Enzymes and processing aids deliver a significant reduction in energy consumption and CO₂ emissions.  There is potential for 19% energy savings, and 41% CO₂ emission reduction by using enzymes and processing aids at different stages of the brewing process.

Bakery Industry

The bakery industry represents the largest volume of food waste.  It is a major challenge for bakeries as they seek to ensure fresh availability for consumers yet also to minimise surplus. Increasing the shelf life of baked goods by two days reduces those items going to waste by 40%.

In bakery applications, enzymes not only reduce waste, but also improve production efficiencies and enhance the quality of baked goods.  Amylases break down starch to smaller molecules to improve softness over shelf-life, xylanases hydrolyse non-starch polysaccharides like arabinoxylan and hemicellulose so that insoluble hemicellulose is converted to soluble hemicellulose and improve water holding capacity, gluten development and elasticity.  With doughnuts, for example, some specialised enzymes can double shelf life whilst maintaining the softness, moisture, volume and other desired sensory attributes.

Meat Production

Meat is the highest value category of all food waste offenders. 20% of meat produced globally goes to waste and it is the most carbon intensive category of food waste globally.  Specific protease enzymes can help meat processors efficiently transform meat protein waste into valuable resources that can be utilized in a variety of applications, including biofertilizers.  Proteases valorise animal by-products that would otherwise be waste bound, helping meat processors become more sustainable in their manufacturing process.

Fish Industry

In the fish industry, where waste is also a major challenge, advances in enzyme technology have enabled the extraction of value from fish waste, converting protein-rich fish by-product waste into cost-efficient fish oils and proteins.

The traditional linear economy is one based on an ethos of take-make-dispose, with insufficient consideration given to the impact or opportunity from our waste streams.  Circular economy utilizing food waste gives us a great opportunity to upcycle “waste” into “value added” products, thus reducing waste accumulation and increasing resource productivity.  Enzymes are fast becoming a hero in the circular economy due to their ability to turn waste streams into a potential revenue stream.

What are the future prospects of enzymes?

The future of our food production will rely on advances in microbiology, artificial intelligence and bioprocessing.  Across all of these scientific and technical advances, enzymes have the power to play a significant role in creating the future of our food, to make it healthier, more sustainable and to add value to waste streams.

Innovation in enzymes through collaborations between experts in biochemistry, bioinformatic, molecular modelling, enzymology, molecular biology, fermentation, system biology, food science, and regulatory will drive enzymology research for waste stream valorisation and play a critical role in acceleration of circular economy.

With advancements in enzymes engineering, these natural biocatalysts are fast becoming pivotal tools to valorise agri-food and by-products waste, unlocking the recovery of essential nutrients and, in many cases, converting by-products waste streams into substantial revenue returns.

When you couple this incredible potential with increased consumer focus on health, environment, sustainability and the ongoing research and innovation focus on enzymes optimisation, it is clear that the future of enzymes is to positively disrupt our food system by building a more efficient and sustainable food chain.

Cultivated meat is expected to be an important contributor towards this progress.  But what is cultivated meat? How will it be important for human progress?  Will it be the same as conventional meat? And when will it be a reality?

What is cultivated meat?

Cultivated meat is defined as the production of muscle and fat tissue from cells that are grown in vitro or outside of a living organism under controlled conditions to yield a protein-rich tissue.  Dating back to 2013, the public first grasped knowledge of cultivated meat when a burger made from cells grown in a laboratory was tasted by a panel of judges on live television.  Prepared by Mark Post’s research group at Maastricht University, this proof of concept took over 5 years and around $300,000 to prepare but showed the world that cultivated meat is possible.

What are the benefits of cultivated meat?

While conventional livestock agriculture will certainly continue to be an important part of the food supply, supplementation with meat from alternative practices, including meat grown from cells, will be inevitable for future human prosperity.  Some of the benefits include:

• • Elimination of animal suffering
  • Shorter time to produce – cells can be grown in a matter of days/weeks vs months/years for traditional farmed meat
  • Eradication of food-borne illnesses and mitigation of antibiotic resistance (Van Boeckel et al, 2017).
  • Lower environmental impacts including greenhouse gas emissions, along with land and water usage (Gerber 2013)

Figure 1. Cultivated meat is estimated to lessen land and water usage with shorter production times.  Data based on using 2900 gallons of water, 1345 square feet of land, and 14 months to produce 1lb of traditionally grown beef.  Reductions based on life-cycle analysis with a reduction in land usage of 99% and water usage of 82% (Tuomisto and Teixeira de Mattos, 2011).  Time to produce cultivated meat based on 45 days from start to harvest (Post, 2020b).

Sustainability and lessened environmental strain are attractive benefits of cultivated meat; the exact impact will depend on the life-cycle of the product.  Outside of terrestrial livestock farming, our oceans are under immense pressure from overfishing and climate change.  Cultivated meat from fish and shellfish offer sustainable options to help lessen the strain on ocean ecosystems.

How is cultivated meat made?

The science of growing the cells and organised tissues for cultivated meat is rooted in cell biology, bioprocessing and tissue engineering.  The first step begins with cell selection and development.  This is critical for the success of cultivated meat since the cells need to grow quickly to high concentrations, be stored and re-used indefinitely, adapted to serum-free media, and differentiate into muscle or fat tissue (Stephens, 2018; Post, 2020a).

In general, cell lines will be created from adult stem cells.  Adult stem cells are different from embryonic stem cells, they can be isolated from a tissue biopsy, a harmless procedure that removes cells from an adult animal.

Next, the chosen cell line is grown under appropriate conditions allowing them to replicate or grow; 0.5g of cells can achieve 2000 kg of meat in 45 days of culturing (Post, 2020b).  This often starts at bench scale using petri dishes or flasks and scaled up to larger, well-controlled bioreactors.  Once the target concentration is reached, the cells undergo differentiation or transition into muscle or fat cells.  The cells can either be harvested in a “free state” or continue to organise into tissues.  Under the appropriate conditions, tissues can be guided towards organised 3D structures of fibres, cartilage, blood vessels using tissue engineering approaches to create a food product like steak, chicken breast, salmon filet, lobster claws, etc.

Is cultivated meat the same as conventionally grown meat?

At the cellular level, cultivated meat is identical to conventionally grown meat.  It isn’t synthetic meat or lab-grown meat but rather is meat grown outside of the animal.  Theoretically, adult stem cells can grow and differentiate into organised tissues that would be identical to a cut of steak, chicken breast, etc.  While this is the ultimate end-goal, minimal viable products (MVP) first entering the marketplace will likely be made from cells harvested as a protein/fat-rich ingredient and formulated with other ingredients into a final meat-based product (Stephens et al., 2018).

Using this approach, integration of food science and cell culture bioprocessing will be key to develop familiar, nutritious products acceptable to consumers.  Considerations for creating cultivated meat products would be ensuring the products have similar sensory properties to existing foods on the market.

From a nutritional standpoint, cultivated meat could be made healthier.  An example would be tailoring the fatty acid profile of fat cells to include polyunsaturated fatty acids or modifying the cell to make antioxidants such as carotenoids (Stout et al., 2020).  Formulating with other ingredients such as plant-based proteins and fats, emulsifiers, stabilisers, and flavours can be used to create acceptable products.  A general overview of the production process is shown in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2. Hypothetical cultivated meat production scheme.  This image is a generalisation and may not reflect the actual technologies and approaches being used for cultivated meat development.

Will it ever be a reality?

In 2013, Mark Post proved that cultivated meat was possible.  Now over 70 start-ups have emerged with greater than $355 million dollars invested and more than 15 cultivated meat products being pursued (Bryne et al. 2020).  With the recent historical commercialization of Eat Just’s GOOD Meat cultured chicken nuggets being sold for ~$20 at 1880 restaurant in Singapore, cultivated meat is now a reality.  This is certainly very exciting but there are still serious challenges that lie ahead.

Consumer acceptance is going to be critical for the success of cultivated meat products (Tomiyama et al, 2020).  Important considerations for consumer acceptance include price, taste and safety (Crosser et al. 2019).  MVPs first entering the market will likely rely on first adopters willing to pay higher prices, open to try novel foods, while late adopters will rely on familiarity once more culturally accepted.

Manufacturing cultivated meat to replace conventionally grown meat will be one of the greatest human achievements to date.  According to some, large scale manufacturing won’t be possible due to many unknowns and costly challenges (Fassler, 2021; Humbird 2021):

• • Proposed scale of production has never been done before
  • Cost and availability of nutrient media and growth factors
  • Novel engineering strategies needed to achieve target cell numbers
  • Prevention of microbial and viral contamination

Historically, cell culture has been used by the pharmaceutical industry to make high-value drugs in limited quantities compared to quantities needed for cultivated meat, which will require a production scale larger than anything ever done before to produce cultivated meat at $10-20/kg.

One facility is estimated to require about one third of the bioreactor volume capacity that currently occupies the entire biopharmaceutical industry (Fassler, 2021).  To achieve high cell concentrations, strategies to supplement additional oxygen, remove waste-products, and prevent mixer shear stress are needed.  Additionally, the cost of the nutrient media used to grow the cells is another important consideration.

Foetal bovine serum has traditionally been used as a nutrient source, but it is expensive and derived from animals.  Many start-ups are working on replacing serum and lowering media costs with cheaper, animal-component-free sources (e.g. plant protein hydrolysates).  Keeping the bioreactors free from contamination also needs to be considered and will likely require usage of costly clean rooms.

Final Thoughts

The meat industry is a $1.7 trillion market with the global demand expected to increase with our growing population (Byrne et al. 2020).  The cultivated meat industry has an opportunity to capitalise on this massive demand, even 1% would lend huge pay-outs.  While the industry is still novel with many uncertainties ahead, there is much potential.

Collaborative partnerships will be critical for commercial success; start-ups partnering with existing food, ingredient, pharmaceutical and biotech companies.  Some start-ups have made much progress with some raising enough capital to build pilot-scale facilities to produce the first MVPs poised to enter the food market.  While the future of cultivated meat seems imminent, the scale-up challenges posed by critics cannot be overlooked and require serious consideration.  As cultivated meat products enter the marketplace, it’ll be up to consumers to decide its fate.

Acknowledgements from the author:

Special thanks to Daniel Noble, Hans Huttinga, Marleen Wintels, and Alison Rabschnuk  for their valuable input and feedback.

Hear more about Dr. Murphy’s perspective on what drives personalised nutrition, and learn her thoughts on the key to unlocking the future of the trend in this interview with Nutrition Insight.

Aoife Marie Murphy, PhD, graduated with a BSc in Human Nutrition and a PhD in Nutrigenomics from University College Dublin. Her research interests include the dietary modulation of metabolic health, epidemiology and gene-nutrient interactions. She is currently a member of Kerry’s nutrition team where she helps apply research findings to innovative ideas in the food and beverage industry.