Cellular Seafood: Current Challenges to Overcome for the Development of Cellular Seafood

Worldwide, seafood accounts for nearly 20% of annual animal protein consumption, and its production is critical to ensure global food and nutrition security. The increase in seafood demand has resulted in overfishing and caused a decrease in aquatic species. Aquaculture or fish farming, includes breeding, growing, and harvesting fish and aquatic products in a controlled environment; It is the first solution to overfishing. To supply sufficient seafood for the growing demand, the alternative seafood industry provides promising opportunities. Cell-based seafood refers to seafood that is produced using cell and tissue culture without slaughtering the animal. This method, called cellular agriculture, has been adopted from regenerative medicine that uses advanced isolation and cultivation techniques of tissue culture. To serve as a credible alternative to traditional seafood, cellular seafood should be efficiently produced and should mimic seafood in all its physical sensations, such as visual appearance, smell, texture and of course, taste. The efficient culture of cells used for production of cellular seafood primarily depends on stem cells, cell culture conditions including incubation temperature and medium composition. Many of these variables should be known and optimized for each species. Overall, this review underscores the importance of further research in cell culture to advance the field of cultured seafood and promote sustainable seafood production.