Collaboration Between Israeli and Palestinian Scientists Innovates Metamaterials for Meat Alternatives
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Jerusalem, Jan 8 (NationPress) Israeli and Palestinian bioengineers have successfully developed two novel metamaterials aimed at producing whole cuts of meat through the process of injection molding, as disclosed by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) on Wednesday.
The findings, published in Nature Communications, showcase the team's use of advanced materials science to navigate the persistent challenges of mimicking the texture and structure of conventional meat, while also providing a scalable and cost-efficient production strategy.
By applying principles typically associated with the aerospace sector, the research team, led by Mohammad Ghosheh and Yaakov Nahmias from Hebrew University, has crafted meat analogues that replicate the complex architecture of muscle and fat.
Metamaterials are specially engineered composite materials whose unique properties are derived from their structure rather than their chemical makeup.
The first metamaterial introduced by the researchers is a low-temperature meat analogue that successfully mimics the fibrous texture characteristic of muscle tissue.
The second metamaterial is a proteoleogel, a plant-protein-stabilized oil gel designed to imitate the structural integrity and cooking properties of animal fat, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
To fabricate these novel meat analogues, the team employed injection molding, a high-capacity manufacturing technique adapted from the polymer industry.
HU emphasized that this represents the inaugural application of this technology in the realm of alternative meat production.
Collectively, these materials facilitate the creation of intricate meat cuts such as steaks, chops, and T-bones, achieving high accuracy and sensory fidelity.
According to the research, this approach reduces production costs to $9 per kilogram at a large scale, significantly lower than the cost of 3D printing, making sustainable meat alternatives more accessible to a wider audience.
Blind taste tests conducted as part of the study indicated that participants were unable to distinguish between the steak analogues and authentic meat.
In conclusion, HU stated that the study underscores the potential of metamaterials in generating scalable, sustainable protein alternatives, addressing the ecological impact and freshwater consumption associated with livestock farming, and paving the way for new sustainable food products.
