Meat alternative

A meat alternative or meat substitute (also called plant-based meat, mock meat, or fake meat sometimes pejoratively), is a food product made from vegetarian or vegan ingredients, eaten as a replacement for meat. Meat alternatives typically approximate qualities of specific types of meat, such as mouthfeel, flavor, appearance, or chemical characteristics.^[1][2][3] Plant- and fungus-based substitutes are frequently made with soy (e.g. tofu, tempeh, and textured vegetable protein), but may also be made from wheat gluten as in seitan, pea protein as in the Beyond Burger, or mycoprotein as in Quorn.^[4] Alternative protein foods can also be made by precision fermentation, where single cell organisms such as yeast produce specific proteins using a carbon source; as well as cultivated or laboratory grown, based on tissue engineering techniques.^[5]

Meatless tissue engineering involves the cultivation of stem cells on natural or synthetic scaffolds to create meat-like products.^[6] Scaffolds can be made from various materials, including plant-derived biomaterials, synthetic polymers, animal-based proteins, and self-assembling polypeptides.^[7] It is these 3D scaffold-based methods provide a specialized structural environment for cellular growth.^[8][9] Alternatively, scaffold-free methods promote cell aggregation, allowing cells to self-organize into tissue-like structures.^[10]

Meat alternatives are typically consumed as a source of dietary protein by vegetarians, vegans, and people following religious and cultural dietary laws. However, global demand for sustainable diets has also increased their popularity among non-vegetarians and flexitarians seeking to reduce the environmental impact of meat production.

Meat substitution has a long history. Tofu was invented in China as early as 200 BCE,^[11] and in the Middle Ages, chopped nuts and grapes were used as a substitute for mincemeat during Lent.^[12] Since the 2010s, startup companies such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat have popularized pre-made plant-based substitutes for ground beef, patties, and vegan chicken nuggets as commercial products.