Review of culture media and serum substitutes containing phytoecdysteroids for application in cultured meat technology

The industrialization of cultured meat requires not only the mass production of cells but also the development of alternative materials to serum, which is the most expensive of the required media constituents. Through a literature review, this paper investigates the potential of spinach-derived phytoecdysteroids (PEs) as a substitute for fetal bovine serum (FBS). PEs are analogs of ecdysteroids, insect-molting hormones synthesized by many plant species to defend against insects. PEs have been shown to stimulate protein synthesis in mammalian skeletal muscle, primarily through Akt activation, leading to increased muscle mass and fiber size. And PEs also inhibit collagenolytic enzyme activity, which may contribute to improved cell culture efficiency. Therefore, PEs may be utilized as a partial replacement of FBS for cultured meat production or as a material to increase cell culture efficiency. However, the in vivo effects of PEs on muscle protein synthesis may be limited by factors such as bioavailability and metabolic half-life, and further studies are needed.