Lab-grown meat is hailed as an eco-friendly, animal-free alternative to traditional cuts and steaks – but struggles to replicate the taste of real meat. Now researchers have cultured meat developed that releases beef flavors at high temperatures, a development that could improve taste for consumers.

In one on July 9th inNature Communications 1published study, the team showed that the improvement ofinVitro animal cells containing compounds linked to the Maillard reaction - the process that gives cooked food its discolored color and appetizing aromas - help replicate the aroma and therefore taste of conventional meat.

“To our knowledge, this is the first approach to regulate the flavor properties of cultured meat,” says study co-author Milae Lee, a biomolecular engineer at Yonsei University in Seoul.

“There is not enough research like this that focuses on this type of end product analysis,” says Seren Kell, head of science and technology at the Good Food Institute Europe in Forest, Belgium. It's "really important to make sure cultured meat can meet consumer expectations," she adds.

Flavor focus

Cultured meat, made by growing animal muscle cells in the laboratory, has numerous advantages compared to traditional meat. It is not necessary to slaughter animals to produce the stem cells the process requires, and producing the meat on a large scale could ultimately have a smaller carbon footprint than raising livestock. “It takes a lot of greenhouse gas emissions to produce conventional meat,” says Lee. “For cultured meat, these types of pollution factors can be minimized.”

Although previous research has explored ways to advance the production of cultured meat to mimic structures of familiar products like meatballs, these studies often "don't really focus on the 'organoleptic' - sense - properties, particularly taste and taste," says Lee.

When conventional meat is cooked at high temperatures, it undergoes the Maillard reaction - its amino acids and sugars react with each other, giving the meat its recognizable aroma and taste. But because cultured meat has a different amino acid profile than conventional meat, it doesn't respond to the same extent.

To correct this, Lee and her colleagues developed a compound that could be added to cultured meat that contained furfuryl mercaptan—a product of the Maillard reaction that contributes to a savory flavor profile—along with substances that would bind it and protect the meat from decay. They designed the compound to be 'switchable', meaning the flavor is released when the meat is heated to 150°C.

They were also careful to ensure that the compound was compatible with the cell cultivation process. They incorporated them into a hydrogel: a gel-like material that can be used as a scaffold for stem cells as they grow into muscle tissue and become more flesh-like.

The researchers used an electronic nose - a device that analyzes the chemical composition of smells - to test how well the hydrogel and cell cultures hold aroma. At room temperature, the cultured meat didn't have much flavor. But when heated to 150°C, it produced compounds that were associated with savory, fruity and meaty flavors. This shows that the hydrogel works well with the flavor components to produce a controlled release of meaty flavors.

Further research found that a combination of three different Maillard reaction products produced a flavor even closer to that of conventional beef, with floral and creamy notes alongside savory flavors. The team plans to test other blends in the future, Lee says. The group also hopes to scale the technology - currently the process of making meat in the lab is slow and labor-intensive, and it only small quantities are produced.

Kell wants the team to explore the potential of different meaty flavors by “looking at all the dominant flavor compounds in other species and product types beyond beef.”