Impacto ambiental e valor nutricional das carnes cultivadas : uma revisão de escopo

Abstract

The growth of alternative proteins to conventional meat is on the rise, such as lab-grown meat. This is being touted as a more sustainable replacement for meat products, along with similar sensory characteristics and equivalent or improved nutritional aspects. However, there is a gap about the validity of these claims and there have been no reviews addressing these topics. In this sense, this study aims to synthesize the current evidence base available on the environmental impact and nutritional value of cultured meats. Articles were included that carried out in vitro studies on their nutritional value and comparative and quantitative analyses on the life cycle of farmed meat production. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) procedures for scoping were followed. A bibliographic search was carried out in the Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar databases, as well as complementary references. Time and language filters were not applied. Review articles, qualitative research or those not related to the topic were excluded. After reading the texts in full, 11 articles were included, two of which focused on nutrition and nine on the environment. Of these, two were published in gray literature. The articles concluded that cultured meat can have a different fatty acid and amino acid composition from conventional meat, depending on the culture medium. Cultured meat uses less land, but has a high energy demand and high levels of CO2 emissions, which contribute to global warming potential, and more expensive nutrient management than beef and other meat products. The use of renewable energies, the choice of ingredients in the culture medium and the timing of biomass growth can significantly affect the environmental impact. Evidence on the subject is currently limited. It is inferred that cultured meat may have different nutritional values to conventional meat products. Furthermore, it cannot be said that cultured meat is a more or less sustainable alternative protein than traditional meat. It is suggested that further studies be carried out in both the nutritional and environmental fields in order to draw more robust conclusions.