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One of the major challenges in developing alternative meat products is the authentic replication of the textural and sensory properties of animal skeletal muscle tissue. This challenge arises from inherent differences between animal muscle tissue and non-animal raw materials, as well as from limitations of the applied structuring processes. Consequently, advanced technologies are required to enable the development of multiphase meat alternatives with muscle-like, fibrillar structures. To replicate the complex hierarchical organization of animal skeletal muscle tissue and to enhance consumer acceptance, a bottom-up approach is pursued in this project.
Individual anisotropic protein fibers are fabricated via wet spinning and subsequently assembled through an additive manufacturing process into a more complex, non-animal, protein- and lipid-rich multiphase meat product. Using the newly developed process, we investigate for the first time the textural properties of the resulting meat analogues in relation to their sensory performance and the effects of the spatial distribution of fibrillated, wet-spun proteins and incorporated lipid phases. From both scientific and applied perspectives, this research lays the groundwork for elucidating structure–texture relationships within anisotropic, multiphase meat analogues and for advancing and exploring novel materials for alternative meat products. Ultimately, the project establishes a new, potentially scalable methodology for structuring alternative, multiphase meat products