Study Finds Spinach as Edible Substrate to Grow Meat from Lab

A team of researchers led by Boston College has successfully grown bovine meat by using decellularized spinach leaf as edible platform in a laboratory.

The team removed the plant cells from the spinach leaf and used the remaining vascular framework to grow isolated precursors of cow meat cells. The cells were cultured on the surface of the decellularized spinach leaves and gelatin coated glass. It showed ~25% expression of myosin heavy-chain and maintained ~99% viability for up to 14 days.

"Cellular agriculture has the potential to produce meat that replicates the structure of traditionally grown meat while minimizing the land and water requirements," said Prof. Glenn Gaudette, the lead author of the study. "We need environmentally and ethically friendly ways to grow meat in order to feed the growing population," Prof. Gaudette added.

For more details, read the news release on BC News and the journal article in Food Science.