Aug 2026· Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety· Vol 25 5, pp.
e70584
· 0 citations· 149 references
Medicine
Abstract
The escalating global population and the environmentally inefficient nature of livestock-based protein production are intensifying demand for sustainable and scalable protein alternatives. Microbial biosynthesis, employing engineered cell factories, represents a pivotal strategy for producing functional proteins with a reduced ecological footprint. This review comprehensively examines the biosynthesis of alternative proteins (APs) via microbial precision fermentation, encompassing diverse categories including coloring proteins, flavoring and taste proteins, structuring and texturizing proteins, nutritional and functional proteins, food processing and enabling proteins, and special functional proteins. Enabling technologies, from fermentation feedstock and microbial host selection to genome/metabolic engineering, bioprocess optimization via response surface methodology/artificial neural networks, and downstream purification, are critically analyzed. Emerging strategies demonstrate substantial progress in enhancing microbial titers, achieving functional mimicry, and advancing regulatory readiness. However, persistent challenges include precise flavor replication, nutritional completeness, and food safety concerns such as allergenicity and process contaminants. Potential solutions, including advanced metabolic engineering, refined protein extraction, biocontainment strategies, and transparent regulatory frameworks, are discussed. By integrating technological innovation with targeted application mapping and regulatory foresight, this review outlines a roadmap toward scalable, safe, and functionally robust microbial AP platforms, thereby contributing to the transition toward a sustainable food system.
Cellular agriculture has emerged as a promising strategy for producing animal-derived food components through controlled biological processes while reducing the environmental and ethical burdens associated with conventional livestock production. Among its enabling technologies, precision fermentation and cultivated-cell systems offer complementary advantages but continue to face challenges related to production costs, scalability, and functional performance. Increasingly, hybrid cellular agriculture approaches combining precision-fermented proteins, cultivated cells, and plant-derived matrices are being explored to overcome these limitations and accelerate commercialization. This review examines recombinant proteins as critical enabling components within these integrated systems. Advances in microbial expression platforms, including prokaryotic hosts such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis and eukaryotic hosts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Komagataella phaffii, are critically evaluated regarding protein yield, product quality, regulatory suitability, downstream processing, and techno-economic feasibility. Industrial-scale fermentation capacities up to 80,000 L demonstrate the growing potential for large-scale recombinant protein production. Applications of recombinant proteins in edible scaffolds, serum-free culture media, extracellular matrix alternatives, and functional food ingredients are discussed alongside their associated technical and regulatory challenges. Ultimately, recombinant proteins are identified as integrative elements bridging acellular and cell-based production systems, supporting the development of scalable, economically viable, and sustainable cellular agriculture.
Neha K. Jadhav, Aditya B. Magdum, Kapil V. Shinde et al.· Preparative Biochemistry & B...· 0 citations
This work explores the development of animal-free proteins produced in laboratory settings using innovative technologies such as precision fermentation, submerged fermentation, plant cell culture, and molecular engineering, which enable the production of high-quality proteins without relying on animal farming or large-scale traditional agriculture.
Glucosamine and its derivatives have been extensively used in the nutraceutical, cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industries. Commercial glucosamine production traditionally relies on the acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of crustacean shells, particularly those of shrimp and crabs. However, these processes are often associated with high production costs, environmental concerns, extensive chemical usage, and the generation of hazardous waste. In recent years, microbial production of glucosamine has emerged as a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative, offering advantages such as milder processing conditions, reduced chemical inputs, and improved process scalability. Microbial approaches include direct glucosamine biosynthesis by native microorganisms, bioconversion of chitin-rich substrates by chitinolytic microbes, and metabolic engineering of recombinant strains for enhanced production. This review explores microbial approaches for glucosamine production, including direct biosynthesis, chitin bioconversion, and recombinant microbial systems. Key challenges related to substrate utilization, process scalability, strain stability, and product recovery are critically evaluated, along with emerging solutions involving metabolic engineering and process optimization. Additionally, strategies to overcome such challenges such as CRISPR-based gene editing, optimization of culture and fermentation conditions etc. have been discussed. This review emphasizes the fact that while microbial production of glucosamine offers clear environmental and economic advantages, their large-scale feasibility depends on addressing these challenges through integrated approaches.
Sourav Ranjan Parida, S. S. Behera, Lopamudra Ray· Letters in Applied Microbiol...· 0 citations
The increasing demand for natural and sustainable colorants has accelerated interest in microbial pigments as alternatives to synthetic dyes. Diverse microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, yeasts, microalgae, and actinomycetes, produce pigments such as carotenoids, melanins, prodigiosin, violacein, and phycobiliproteins with applications in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles, and biomedicine. Despite their potential, large-scale microbial pigment production remains constrained by high costs, refined substrate dependency, and downstream processing challenges. This review summarizes recent advances in microbial pigment production using agro-industrial residues, food processing wastes, lignocellulosic biomass, and other organic waste streams within a circular bioeconomy framework. Key microbial sources, waste-derived substrates, and bioprocess strategies are discussed alongside techno-economic, environmental, and regulatory considerations. Current bottlenecks and emerging approaches, including metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and integrated biorefinery concepts, are highlighted as future directions to enhance sustainability and industrial scalability.
Moitrayee Devi, A. Sarma, Suresh Deka et al.· Frontiers in Microbiology· 0 citations
Methylotrophic yeasts are outstanding platforms for the production of recombinant proteins through precision fermentation. Growing demand for protein-based food ingredients requires economically viable secretion efficiency and space-time yields, as well as correct post-translational modifications to ensure proper food functionality. Here, we review recent advances and future potential in engineering methylotrophic yeasts for food protein production, with particular focus on Komagataella phaffii. We first summarise the production of three categories of protein food ingredients: recombinant dairy proteins, proteins for plant-based and cultivated meat applications, and sweet-tasting proteins. Addressing the dual goals of improving both yield and quality, we then review synthetic biology and metabolic engineering strategies in methylotrophic yeasts, with emphasis on genome engineering and gene expression tools, protein secretory pathway engineering, and glycoengineering. Further advances in synthetic biology, integrated with industrial process development, will be critical to unlocking future precision fermentation systems based on methylotrophic yeasts.
Bingyin Peng, Masahiro Tominaga, Jun Ishii et al.· Metabolic Engineering· 0 citations
Plant based protein possesses significant potential in the food sector due to its economic, nutritional, and sustainability benefits. However, the presence of limiting factors in terms of digestibility, off flavors, and techno functionality reduces the appeal of plant proteins. Fermentation is a biological modification process to counteract these limiting factors, which modifies protein structure, functional properties (solubility, hydrophobicity, WHC/OHC, emulsion etc.), alters the amino acids, and forms flavor active metabolites. This review critically evaluates microbial interventions applied at different stages of plant protein isolation, highlighting their effects on protein functionality, flavor‐active metabolite formation, and gut health alongside a detailed discussion of microbial proteolytic pathways. The textural and flavor changes in protein products after fermentation are also discussed. Various plant sources, such as peas, legumes, millets, etc., along with different microbial strains (Lactic acid bacteria (LAB),
Bacillus, Aspergillus
, and
Saccharomyces
, etc.), physical conditions (time, temperature, pH) provide an impressive extent of microbial interaction during the fermentation process. Further systemic studies are required to understand the role of distinctive microorganisms and their biochemical pathways to determine the effect of different factors on the protein molecular level, leading to their quality and functional enhancements. Hence, fermentation can act as a fascinating biochemical process for the quality enhancements for the future development of modified, nutritious, and pleasant plant proteins to fulfill consumer requirements.
Disha, M. Madhumita, Dharmender Kumar et al.· Food Bioengineering· 0 citations