High-tech 'steaks' from vegetable protein

What do bulletproof vests, wound healing and vegetable protein all have in common? A great vegetarian ‘pulled-pork’ sandwich, according to scientists using research from Harvard.

The scientists are using a technology originally developed for use in the production of ballistic material and surgical implants to create alternatives to meats with vegetable protein.

The process involves spinning vegetable protein in a rotary jet-spinning device; this protein is then extruded through small openings, which creates a fibrous material similar in texture to that of animal meat.

The jet-spinning device was previously used for various other technologies that rely on fibres, but scientists, while working out of the Harvard laboratory, realised that the process could be used to create convincing meat alternatives.

The mass of vegetarian fibres can then be processed into products that resemble pulled pork or steak. They can also serve as a scaffold onto which animal cells are grafted and grown into lab-cultivated meat.

Now the researchers have founded startup called Tender Foods as they commercialise the technology for the vegetarian market. The startup has recently received $12 million in seed funding from Lowercarbon Capital to help achieve this launch.

There are now 12 people working at Tender Foods, including the co-founders Professor Kit Parker, from Harvard University, and Christophe Chantre, and they hope that the rotary jet-spinning method will produce meat alternatives with an authentic texture.

“We’re going to partner with a couple of restaurants that believe in our mission and are excited to offer this new generation of meat alternatives. We can get more direct access to consumer responses through the chef and then the consumers,” Chantre said.

Image courtesy of Tender Food.