The Future of Food: Introducing Beef Rice, Animal Proteins Grown on Grains
The variety of sustainable alternatives to typical farmed meat is expanding.
Cultured beef rice, fundamentally a novel hybrid meal, was devised by research institutes in Korea through the process of cultivating fat cells and muscle of the cow on the surface and within the grains of rice.
The end result is a protein-rich diet at a lower economic and environmental cost than typical beef, which might be used to combat hunger in the poorest nations, as well as to feed troops on missions or astronauts in space. This is supported by a study published in the journal Matter by a team of researchers from Yonsei University in Seoul.
To create hybrid rice, researchers used rice as a scaffold to develop bovine muscle and fat cells. The grains have a porous structure that provides support and also contain chemicals that feed animal cells, increasing their growth. To help the grains take root, they have been covered with fish gelatine, a safe and delicious substance.
After around 10 days of cultivation in the test tube, the hybrid rice is ready. The researchers cooked it before subjecting it to a variety of food industry-standard analyses to evaluate its qualities. The findings show that the hybrid rice, which is light pink in color, has a higher consistency than ordinary rice and has 8% more protein and 7% more fat. Rice with more muscle cells smells like meat and almonds, but rice with more fat contains notes of butter, cream, and coconut oil.
According to Korean experts, hybrid rice generates around 6 kilograms of CO2 for every 100 grams of protein produced, while beef produces almost 50. If commercialized, hybrid rice might cost around $2.23 per kg, compared to $14.88 for beef.
“The study’s novelty lies in cultivating animal cells using rice grains as a skeleton, rather than the usual scaffolds made with soy proteins or nuts,” says geneticist Michele Morgante of the University of Udine and a member of the National Academy of Lynceans. “This technique, according to Korean researchers, allows cells to grow better and reduces the risk of food allergies.” However, various issues remain, first and foremost about the accuracy of the environmental effect assessment, “considering that, in terms of emissions of climate-altering gases, rice cultivation is second only to livestock breeding,” according to Morgante. It is therefore necessary to assess the technique’s scalability at the industrial level in order to develop a supply chain capable of meeting worldwide demand for protein meals. Lastly, “there is the problem of consumer acceptance, because this hybrid food is neither meat nor rice, but something completely new.”
