Advances in Cultivated Meat Technology for Sustainable Alternative Protein Production: A Review.
Food security and environmental sustainability have emerged as major global challenges, driving the search for alternative protein production systems that can meet growing demand while reducing the environmental burden of conventional livestock farming. Among emerging alternatives, cultivated meat has gained considerable attention due to its potential to produce animal-derived protein without the need for large-scale animal rearing and slaughter. Although cultivated meat remains absent from most commercial markets owing to technical, economic, and regulatory challenges, significant milestones have been achieved, including regulatory approval in Singapore in 2020, completion of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pre-market safety consultation in 2022, and authorization for commercial sale by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2023. Substantial progress has been made in cell sourcing, cell-line engineering, serum-free culture media development, scaffold fabrication, and bioprocess optimization. However, large-scale production of cultivated meat with desirable texture, flavor, nutritional quality, and economic viability remains challenging. Key bottlenecks include the development of cost-effective animal-component-free media, scalable bioreactor systems, edible scaffold materials, and efficient downstream processing strategies. This review provides an updated assessment of recent advances in cultivated meat technology, encompassing cell-line development, scaffold engineering, bioprocessing, post-processing approaches, sustainability considerations, and regulatory frameworks. Furthermore, current technological limitations, commercialization challenges, and future research priorities are discussed to evaluate the potential role of cultivated meat within sustainable and resilient future food systems.