Challenges for flavoring fish products from cellular agriculture

Cell-cultured (cell-based, in vitro) fishes have emerged as a potentially more sustainable alternative to traditional fishes. However, consumer acceptability remains a major challenge to their success in the food market. As observed with plant-based alternatives, consumers expect tasty products. The presence of desired flavors is key to consumer acceptability and may help overcome neophobia. Desired fish flavors vary among fish species due to muscle composition, living environment, and diet. Additionally, traditional 'fishy' off-flavors must be avoided. Understanding which flavors are desired or undesired by consumers is vital to the development of successful cell -cultured fish products. Thus, this review summarizes recent information on fish flavors and identifies current challenges in flavor development and potential applications in cell-cultured fish products.