Industry-scale production of cultivated meat and the importance of valve control
VALVES & FLOW CONTROL REVOLUTIONSIING NUTRITION
BURKERT
Industry-scale production of cultivated meat and the importance of valve control
Grown from animal cells , cultivated meat has the potential to provide a more environmentally friendly alternative , that is also free from animal harm . Currently , production is laboratory-scale , and expanding to industrial levels could enable this new food to reach our supermarkets . To achieve this , the accurate environmental control of the bioreaction process is essential , meaning that gas flow and temperature regulation with optimised valve systems will be a vital requirement .
Kieran Bennett , Industry Account Manager for Food & Beverage applications at Bürkert , discusses the importance of bioreactor controls for scaling-up cultivated meat production .
Cultivated meat , produced by growing animal muscle cells , has the potential to revolutionise global nutrition . This ‘ new food ’ could remove primary ethical concerns surrounding animal care , and help reduce global warming , as well as minimise wider environmental challenges as a result of intensive farming .
Producing cultivated meat is achieved through cellular agriculture . A sample of cells is obtained from a donor animal by a physically harmless biopsy . Myocyte cells , the most common cells used to produce cultivated meat , are then separated and placed into a medium , such as a microalgae base , which is rich in the nutrients essential to cell reproduction . For the cells to achieve sufficient yield through further growth ,
Growing cultivated meat remains at laboratory scale , and before this new food can reach the supermarket , the cost of production needs to decrease further still . ( Copyright ( c ) 2019 tilialucida / Shutterstock )
Control valves are integral to both the initial cell filtration and separation phase , as well as fermentation , and precision is essential throughout .
maintaining the precise environmental conditions within the bioreaction process is also crucial .
Scaling-up production
One major challenge the new food industry faces is the need to scale-up production . Although the current price of a cultivated meat burger is , theoretically , around € 9 ( 1 ), this value has decreased significantly since production of the first lab-grown patty in 2013 , which reportedly cost nearly € 300,000 ( 2 ). Growing cultivated meat remains at laboratory scale , and before this new food can reach the supermarket , the cost of production needs to decrease further still .
Companies like Zeta are developing systems for meat and fish cell cultivation that have the potential to increase the scale of production over time . Large-scale bioreactors and fermenters that can efficiently create higher yields are required , and to ensure precise environmental control within these cell cultivation vessels , precision process control is vital .
A crucial factor to ensure that the initial cells multiply is temperature control . If the cells are not incubated at a precise temperature , they will die . Temperature control remains vital throughout the cultivation process to optimise yield , as well as quality . Within the bioreactor , precise gas control is also essential ,
94 PECM Issue 65