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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Towards Cost-Effective and Sustainable Media Formulations for Terrestrial and Aquatic Cellular Agriculture

Foods · 14 July 2026 · DOI 10.3390/foods15142494

Media development for cultivated meat and seafood was reviewed with a focus on lowering cost, improving sustainability and ensuring food compatibility. The authors compared published serum-free formulations and assessed hydrolysates, modified growth factors, growth-factor substitutes and stabilizing agents, while also examining work on aquatic-cell media. They identified gaps in species-specific growth factors, particularly for aquatic organisms, and highlighted basal-media replacement, spent-media recycling and computational tools as research priorities. The review also discusses regulatory concerns and proposes performance measures for formulation development.

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