Harnessing the diversity of plant proteins for cultivated meat production: functional insights and emerging applications

Background With the global demand for sustainable and ethical food sources rising, cultivated meat (CM) has emerged as a promising strategy to meet these needs while reducing the environmental impact of conventional meat production. However, current CM technologies face challenges related to scalability, high production costs, and reliance on animal-derived components. Plant proteins have attracted considerable attention as alternative protein sources; however, their potential roles in CM systems remain largely unexplored. Scope and approach This review provides a comprehensive overview of the structural and physicochemical properties of diverse plant proteins and explores their multifunctional roles in CM development. We highlight recent technological advances and applications, focusing on their use as edible scaffolds, culture medium components, and product enhancers. In addition, we discuss bioprocessing strategies and techno-economic analysis (TEA) frameworks to assess how the integration of plant protein may impact industrial-scale CM production. Key findings and conclusions Engineering plant proteins into tailored scaffold architectures can be guided by their physicochemical properties via a range of fabrication technologies. Plant protein-based scaffolds show strong potential for scalability and cost-effectiveness in industrial-scale CM production when integrated with bioreactor systems, although this remains to be validated. Besides, plant proteins and their hydrolysates are emerging as effective culture medium supplements that promote cell growth and present significant opportunities to reduce production costs. Plant proteins also enhance the texture, flavor, and nutritional quality of CM products through downstream food processing. Overall, these multifunctional roles position plant proteins as versatile and sustainable building blocks for CM manufacturing.