Plant-based meats are getting more authentic-tasting all the time, and a new Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJ) study suggests that the next big innovation in the texture and mouth-feel of alt-meat may come in the form of everyone’s favorite succulent: aloe vera.

The research — led by Gilad Gome under the auspices of Sharon Schlesinger and serial entrepreneur Prof. Oded Shoseyov from the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at HUJ — demonstrates how this common succulent plant can serve as the basis of a natural, sustainable scaffold for growing cultivated meat.

The plant researchers successfully cultivated fat-like “lipid chunks” on aloe vera scaffolds. These structures could seriously enhance the taste and texture of alternative proteins.

“Aloe vera has long been known for its medicinal and nutritional benefits, but our study shows it also holds great potential for sustainable food production,” said Schlesinger.

“By repurposing this natural byproduct into a biocompatible scaffold, we are taking a significant step toward scalable, cost-effective cultured meat production that could help address global food security and environmental challenges.”

Unlike synthetic alternatives, aloe’s natural structure is perfectly suited to absorbing and storing liquids, which gives the meat cells the perfect environment to grow without requiring additional resources.

With global aloe vera production reaching up to 500,000 metric tons annually, this widely available agricultural byproduct offers a renewable resource that answers the growing demand for sustainable food solutions.

Aloe vera is already FDA-approved as a food additive, which means that there wouldn’t be a ton of red tape to navigate if manufacturers want to start using it.

Scaling up production

The research, funded by the Good Food Institute and the Israeli Innovation Authority, tackles several problems in cultured meat development that have yet to be rectified.

The scientists used a special kind of reactor — a macrofluidic single-use bioreactor, if you were curious — to scale up the production of cultivated meat in a cost-effective way, which could make the product a lot more viable in a commercial context.

The team hopes this innovation will pave the way for more accessible and environmentally responsible protein sources for the future of food production.

The research paper, titled “Cultivation of bovine lipid chunks on Aloe vera scaffolds” is now available in the online journal npj Science of Food.