The ETH Zürich Alt Protein Project

Plant-based Meat

Plant-based meat is produced directly from plants. Instead of relying on an animal to convert plants into meat, we can make meat more efficiently by skipping the animal and turning plant ingredients directly into meat.

Like animal-based meat, plant-based meat is composed of protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. Next-generation plant-based meat looks, cooks, and tastes like conventional meat. 

Cultivated Meat

Cultivated meat is meat produced directly from cells. The process of cultivating meat uses the basic elements needed to build muscle and fat and enables the same biological process that happens inside an animal. Cultivated meat is identical to conventional meat at the cellular level.

Fermentation

Fermentation is a powerful, flexible process for using microorganisms to produce alternative proteins. Fermentation has been used in food production for millennia. Ancient civilizations used microbial cultures to preserve foods, create alcoholic beverages, and improve the nutritional value and bioavailability of foods ranging from yogurt to tempeh. Over the past century, the role of fermentation has expanded far beyond its historical usage to a much broader range of applications. There are many uses of fermentation in the broader alt protein field.