Sorghum Prolamin Scaffolds-Based Hybrid Cultured Meat with Enriched Sensory Properties

Cultured meat (CM) has been hailed as a sustainable future meat production technology that requires scaffolds to support cell growth. Plant proteins are the most promising raw materials for edible scaffolds but remain underutilized. In this study, kafirin, an abundant, readily available, and nonallergenic prolamin extracted from red sorghum, was explored to fabricate 3D porous sponge-like scaffolds via a simple template-leaching method. The scaffolds featured fully interconnected pores with a high porosity of approximately 84% and mechanical properties of 1.0-1.9 kPa. Porcine skeletal muscle cells (PSCs) and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) could adhere, proliferate, and differentiate on protein scaffolds. Thereafter, a hybrid CM was produced by culturing porcine ADSCs on kafirin scaffolds for 12 days, integrating plant protein-based and cell-based alternatives. The anthocyanins found in red sorghum contributed to the hybrid CM with meat-like color and antioxidative benefits. Moreover, the hybrid CM prototype demonstrated promising potential in providing higher protein content (22.9%) and unique mouthfeel and appearance characteristics, highlighting the viability of sorghum prolamin in promoting CM production.