Sustainable media development for cultured meat: Technology and material reviews

As the global population grows and environmental challenges intensify, research on cultured meat as a sustainable alternative to traditional meat production has gained momentum. Culturing cells requires the use of culture media, which contain various additives. However, these additives raise both environmental and ethical concerns. Therefore, alternative solutions are needed to address issues associated with culture media components and to enable sustainable cell cultivation. In particular, serum and antibiotics are widely used due to their vital roles: serum provides key nutrients and bioactive factors essential for cell growth, while antibiotics help prevent bacterial and fungal contamination. Although these components are difficult to replace, ongoing efforts are being made to develop suitable alternatives. Moreover, because culture media are a central component of cultured meat production, the development of efficient and cost-effective media is essential. Recently, innovative strategies have been explored to support sustainable cultured meat production, particularly through the optimization of cell culture media using plant-based, microalgae-based, and other alternative sources. This review aims to provide a foundational overview of cultured meat media composition, additive replacement strategies,and the development of sustainable media formulations.