Production of sodium alginate-gelatin composite hydrogel-based 3D cultured fat with low cholesterol and high polyunsaturated fatty acids

Cultured fat is an important component of cell-cultured meat, which furnishes essential fatty acids and phospholipids, as well as being abundant in cholesterol. However, few studies have been on regulating the nutritional composition of cell-cultured meat, especially concerning the deposition of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and cholesterol. Here, we use sodium alginate-gelatin scaffolds to generate cultured fat, and find that phosphatidylcholine (PC) can promote the adipogenic differentiation of fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs), accelerate lipid accumulation, and facilitate cultured fat production in the sodium alginate-gelatin 3D culture system. Interestingly, when PC is loaded into Euglena (Eg-PC) for co-culture, the triglycerides (TGs) content in fat is further increased. Multi-omics analysis reveals that PC treatment significantly alters the lipid composition of cultured fat produced by FAPs and increases the content of TGs, especially PUFAs (alpha-linolenic acid and linolenic acid). More importantly, PC treatment also reduces the total cholesterol content of cultured fat. This study provides innovative approaches for producing cultured fat with "high PUFAs and low cholesterol".