Growing meat in the lab is seen as a way to save millions of animals from the slaughterhouse.
But the few who have tried it are often criticized for not having enough authentic “meaty” flavor.
Researchers at Yonsei University in Korea may now have found the solution.
They have developed lab-grown ‘beef’ that releases a rich, meaty flavour when heated – just like a steak sizzling in a pan.
Although the bizarre pink piece of meat looks nothing like real beef, their next mission is to make it look as good as possible.
In the lab, they created a “switchable flavor compound” (SFC), which retains flavor at normal temperatures, but releases a burst of flavor when heated at 300°F (150°C)
The final product: This lab-grown meat releases an explosion of meaty flavor when heated — just like a steak sizzling in a pan.
Scientists around the world are developing cultured meat as a more ethical alternative to real animal meat.
This involves taking a cell sample from a living animal and then growing or ‘cultivating’ it in the lab to create a meat mass – using fewer resources and less space.
But it is believed that this original cell sample perfectly mimics the taste of real meat when grown in the lab.
According to study author Milae Lee of Yonsei University, this is not the case.
“The cell culture itself does not make the product identical to conventional meat. It’s not that simple,” Lee said.
‘In this study, we tried to focus on the taste of cultured meat, because we think this property is crucial for recognizing cultured meat as a food.’
Much of the flavor of real meat comes from the Maillard reaction, a chemical reaction between amino acids and sugars in the meat that occurs at about 150°C (300°F)
Lab-grown meat involves taking a cell sample from a living animal and then growing or “cultivating” it in the lab to create a meaty mass – using fewer resources and less space
Much of the flavor of real meat comes from the Maillard reaction, a chemical reaction between amino acids and sugars in the meat that takes place at a temperature of about 150°C.
The problem with lab-grown meat, however, is that it contains fewer amino acids than real meat, which makes the Maillard reaction less strong.
The researchers identified a compound called furfuryl mercaptan, which is created by the Maillard reaction during the cooking of beef, pork and chicken.
The team therefore wanted to develop a cultured meat that would generate the taste of grilled beef when cooked.
In the lab, they created a “switchable flavor compound” (SFC), a compound that retains flavor at normal temperatures but releases a burst of flavor when heated to 150°C (300°F).
The SFC consists of a single flavor molecule surrounded by two ‘binding groups’ (parts of one molecule that bind to another)
The findings could help breed meat that better mimics the taste of conventional meat, such as cooked beef, the authors suggest.
This SFC consists of a single flavor molecule surrounded by two ‘binding groups’ (parts of a molecule that bind to another molecule).
At a normal temperature of 37°C (98°F), the flavor molecule is preserved.
However, when heated to 150°C (300°F) during cooking, the flavor compound is released – mimicking the Maillard reaction in animal meat.
According to the scientists, previous research has used similar methods to develop lab-grown meat that has the same shape as traditional products such as steak and meatballs, but the actual taste is often overlooked.
“Cultured meat is emerging as a new type of food that can provide animal protein in a sustainable way,” Lee and colleagues say in their paper, published in Nature communication.
‘In this study, a framework was developed that can alter the flavor, so that meat flavor compounds are only released at a certain cooking temperature. This mimics the Maillard reaction of slaughtered meat.’
While lab-grown meat is not yet on the shelves, British scientists are working on growing meat products in a lab with a view to commercialisation.
Experts in Newcastle are also growing pork tenderloins in a lab with a view to commercialising them. However, the UK government has not yet given its approval for lab-grown meat.
An Australian company called Vow has developed lab-grown quail, which was approved for sale in Singapore in February after trials in Iceland.
And last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the sale of cell-based chicken breasts by California-based company Upside Meats.
Earlier this year, MailOnline tasted one of the first lab-grown meat products: a mini pork sausage made by Dutch company Meatable.