“It’s not about having to replace everything that people appreciate in a cow. But we have to replace enough of the profitable products of a cow that it becomes unprofitable to raise many cows. “Pat Brown, founder of the US company Impossible Foods, which produces plant burgers, is no longer just about an alternative to animal foods He explained that in an interview in the new January issue of Technology Review (available at the well-stocked kiosk or ordered online).

The key to this are three characteristics: “If we can offer a cheaper, tastier, healthier product to consumers, I am confident that most consumers will prefer it to conventional meat. And if no one can buy the products.” animal agriculture buys, then there will be no incentive to continue populating the planet with cows. ”

More than minced meat replicas The biochemist Patrick Brown is considered an excellent scientist who works for pioneering work in genomics. 2011 the then professor at Stanford University founded Impossible Foods. Its ground beef alternative contains hemoprotein made from genetically modified yeasts.

This article comes from issue 1 / 2021 of the Technology Review. The booklet is from 17. 12. 2020 available in stores and directly in the heise shop. Highlights from the magazine:

So far, the vegetable meat Industry can only realistically reproduce minced meat. Brown knows that he has to offer a lot more than just burger meatballs to achieve his goal. That is why Impossible Foods is working on creating steaks, chicken breasts and lamb chops from plant-based raw materials. “If we look at a piece of muscle tissue from a cow, pig, chicken, halibut or even a fruit fly under the electron microscope, they all look very similar. So if you solve the problem for one type of meat, you have 17 percent solved for each type of meat, “says Brown.

High art The way there is still complicated, as all these meat variants have different components have: fat tissue, loose connective tissue, tight connective tissue and the muscle tissue itself. For a really good steak, you have to get this muscle structure and texture so that it has the right mechanical properties.

Connective tissue is like a Non-woven fabric made from proteins. In the case of adipose tissue, on the other hand, its mechanical properties, melting behavior and taste chemistry are important. “This is a fine art from the field of engineering and materials science,” says Brown.

(vsz)