Scientists have discovered a new potential way to make lab-grown meat more realistic. (Kitreel/Shutterstock)
In a nutshell
Scientists discovered that aloe vera’s inner tissue can support the growth of fat cells, offering a natural and food-safe structure for lab-grown meat production.
By using Aloe vera scaffolds, researchers successfully grew fat tissue, which is crucial for enhancing the texture, mouthfeel, and potential taste of cultivated meat.
This method repurposes a common agricultural byproduct, making it a cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach to advancing alternative proteins.
JERUSALEM — While you’ve been slathering Aloe vera gel on sunburns, researchers in Israel have been using the plant’s leftover parts for something completely different: growing cow fat cells in a lab. Israeli researchers have discovered that Aloe vera, the same plant used in countless skincare products, could revolutionize lab-grown meat production, transforming discarded plant parts into frameworks for growing beef fat that actually tastes like the real thing.
A study published in npj Science of Food shows how the inner tissue of Aloe vera leaves, typically thrown away after the gel is extracted, can be used to grow bovine fat cells. This work uses waste materials while creating fat structures that could make plant-based meat alternatives taste and feel more like conventional meat, although further testing is needed to confirm this.
Nature’s Perfect Framework
The research team transformed Aloe vera’s inner tissue into a sponge-like structure that supports the growth of cow stem cells. By adding a type of fat found in olive oil, they encouraged these cells to develop into fat tissue.
“Aloe vera has long been known for its medicinal and nutritional benefits, but our study shows it also holds great potential for sustainable food production,” says study author Sharon Schlesinger from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in a statement. “By repurposing this natural byproduct into a biocompatible scaffold, we are taking a significant step toward scalable, cost-effective cultured meat production that could help address global food security and environmental challenges.”
Scientists took the inner tissue from an aloe vera plant. (Photo by pisauikan from Unsplash)
When scientists grow meat in a lab, they need something for the cells to grow on like a trellis for vines. This is called a scaffold. It needs to be porous enough for nutrients to reach the cells but strong enough to keep its shape. Finding good materials for this has been a major challenge.
Aloe vera is already used in foods and medicines, making it likely to be accepted by consumers and regulators. Its inner tissue naturally holds water well and supports cell growth. With global Aloe vera production reaching hundreds of thousands of metric tons annually, there’s plenty of this byproduct available.
How They Did It
The process of transforming Aloe vera into a cell-growing platform is straightforward. The researchers separated the gel-filled inner tissue from the outer skin of fresh Aloe vera leaves, sterilized it with steam, and removed the gel with a vacuum. The remaining material was frozen, dried, and sterilized with UV light. Small plugs were then punched out to create the scaffolds.
These scaffolds worked well for growing cells. Both mouse cells and bovine stem cells attached to the scaffold and multiplied. Under a microscope, the cow stem cells not only grew well but also created structures resembling natural tissue, complete with the supporting material that cells typically produce around themselves.
Fat That Makes Food Taste Better
This has the potential to also make plant-based meats more realistic as well. (© ChayTee – stock.adobe.com)
By adding oleic acid to the cell culture, the researchers saw fat droplets form within the cells. Fat contributes significantly to the flavor, texture, and juiciness of meat—qualities that many plant-based alternatives struggle to replicate.
To scale up production, the team used a specially designed bioreactor, essentially a controlled environment for growing biological materials. This system, developed at Reichman University, offers a cost-effective way to produce larger quantities of these tissues. The scaffolds remained stable for up to 68 days, showing this approach could work for commercial production.
A major advantage of using Aloe vera is its simplicity. The production process requires no additional chemicals and uses methods already common in the food industry like steam sterilization and freeze-drying. Since Aloe vera is already FDA-approved for food, regulatory approval for its use in cultivated meat might be easier compared to synthetic alternatives.
The Future of Food Production
While the results look promising, some challenges remain. The research team is working to improve how evenly cells grow throughout the scaffold and is exploring ways to distribute nutrients better.
By using aloe vera’s natural properties alongside modern techniques, researchers are creating more sustainable ways to produce food that meets both nutritional needs and taste preferences.
Paper Summary
Methodology
Researchers began by separating parenchyma tissue from fresh Aloe vera leaves, then autoclaving it to sterilize the material. After extracting the gel using a vacuum pump, they freeze-dried the remaining cellulose structure for 48 hours and exposed it to UV light for sterilization. They created scaffold plugs using an 8mm biopsy punch and tested them with mouse fibroblasts and bovine mesenchymal stem cells (bMSCs) using different seeding methods. Cell growth was measured using Alamar blue metabolic assays, while tissue formation was analyzed through histological sectioning, confocal microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy.
Results
The Aloe vera scaffolds successfully supported cell adhesion and proliferation without requiring additional coating materials like gelatin. Bovine stem cells displayed characteristic spindle-shaped morphology and formed dense colonies throughout the scaffold. Histological analysis showed extracellular matrix formation and collagen production, confirming tissue-like development. When exposed to oleic acid, the cells accumulated significant lipid droplets, demonstrating the potential for creating fat-rich tissues. The scaffolds remained stable during cultivation in a macrofluidic single-use bioreactor for up to 68 days.
Limitations
The study revealed uneven cell distribution across the scaffolds, with coverage varying from 0% to 40% in different areas. This suggests a need for improved seeding techniques or scaffold design modifications. The research primarily focused on fat tissue formation rather than muscle development, which would be necessary for more complete meat alternatives. While the scaffolds remained stable during testing, long-term stability and safety assessments would be required before commercial applications. Some experiments used immortalized cell lines, which might behave differently than primary cells in production settings.
Discussion and Takeaways
This research demonstrates a sustainable approach to cultivated meat production by repurposing agricultural byproducts that would otherwise be discarded. The porous structure of Aloe vera scaffolds naturally supports cell growth without chemical modifications, potentially reducing production costs and complexity. The ability to induce fat accumulation in these scaffolds holds particular promise for enhancing the sensory qualities of both cultivated meat and existing plant-based alternatives. Aloe vera’s established status as a food-grade material could accelerate regulatory approval compared to synthetic alternatives. The integration with simplified bioreactor systems suggests a pathway toward scalable production that could make cultivated meat more commercially viable.
Funding and Disclosures
This research was funded by the Israeli Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (grant number 1001593854), the Good Food Institute Israel (grant number 151245), and partially supported by the Israeli Innovation Authority through the cultivated meat consortium (file number 82446). The authors declared no competing interests, and the funders had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or publication decisions.
Publication Information
The study, titled “Cultivation of bovine lipid chunks on Aloe vera scaffolds,” was published in the journal npj Science of Food (volume 9, article 26) in February 2025. It was conducted by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Department of Plant Sciences and Department of Animal Sciences, in collaboration with the Sammy Ofer School of Communication at Reichman University in Israel.