perFOAMance - Stepping Toward Price-Parity in Food Technology: Optimization of Cell Culture Performance through Vegetable Antifoams
Ein Forschungsprojekt der Leibniz Universität Hannover in Kooperation mit Cultimate Foods
By 2050, global demand for meat is expected to increase dramatically, posing major challenges to conventional livestock farming. Ethical concerns regarding animal welfare, sustainability and health underscore the urgent need for technological alternatives to conventional meatproduction. In this project, we focused on animal cell culture technologies — one of the key solutions for sustainable food production.
Food-Grade Defoaming Solutions for Cellular Agriculture
A major bottleneck in the large-scale production of cultivated cells is foam formation in bioreactors, which negatively impacts cell viability, differentiation, and product yield. Foam also creates operational issues by reducing reactor volume, hindering oxygen and heat transfer, and risking sterility. The aim of this project was to replace conventional chemical antifoams - which are costly and potentially impair cell growth - with food-grade, plant-based agents better suited for cellular agriculture and food technology.
We systematically selected and tested ten certified plant-based antifoams. Four emerged as optimal candidates, showing no in vitro cytotoxicity and even boosting porcine mesenchymal stem cell viability in conventional 2D cultures. Upon addition, these plant-based antifoams acted as effective defoamers, promoting immediate bubble coalescence and foam breakdown, enabling reliable cell growth without compromising cell adhesion in 2D or 3D cultures. Notably, some antifoams enhanced lipid accumulation during adipogenic differentiation, supporting efficient production of in vitro porcine fat.
Our study included advanced samples from leading German producers and demonstrated that these plant-based antifoams are suitable for cell-based food applications. The project succeeded in identifying bioprocess-supporting, cost-effective, and scalable antifoam solutions, moving the field closer to consistent, reproducible cellular agriculture and precision fermentation. The results provide a foundation for further optimization of food-grade antifoams, with relevance for a wide range of cell-based food and fermentation products.
Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institut für Technische Chemie
Projektleiterin: PD Dr. Antonina Lavrentieva
Kooperationspartner: Cultimate Foods GmbH
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Abschlussbericht: perFOAMance - Stepping Toward Price-Parity in FoodTechnology: Optimization of Cell Culture Performance through VegetableAntifoams