Cephalopod-Inspired Material Design for Potential Food Applications

As the global population rises alongside a worsening climate outlook, alternative proteins such as plant and cell-based meat provide exciting avenues for meeting the increasing demand for meat sourced from animals and have implications for planetary and human health. While food science is a well-established field with a rich history, inclusion of methods and research paradigms from the materials community can accelerate the development of promising food technologies. In this work, we review the complex and interesting structure and functionality of cephalopods, the landscape of existing materials advances towards replicating these creatures, and extensions towards food and edible materials. In doing so, we bridge the rich culinary traditions around cuttlefish, octopus, and squid¹ with advancements in tissue engineering and bio-inspired design.<br/><br/>Few creatures generate as much wonder and curiosity as cephalopods. Renowned for their protective and communicative capabilities (camouflage, texture and shape change), they also demonstrate fascinating behavioral and cognitive abilities².Researchers have looked to cephalopods for inspiration in designing systems as varied as displays³, programmable coloration⁴, self-healing coatings⁵, mechanochromic windows⁶, and bioelectronics⁷. Here, we look to their unique structure and properties to inspire a new domain of compelling alternative food materials.<br/><br/>References:<br/>1. Mouritsen, Ole G., and Klavs Styrbæk. "Cephalopod gastronomy—a promise for the future." <i>Frontiers in Communication</i> 3 (2018): 38.<br/>2. Schnell, Alexandra K., and Nicola S. Clayton. "Cephalopod cognition." <i>Current Biology</i> 29.15 (2019): R726-R732.<br/>3. Wilson, Daniel J., and Leila F. Deravi. "Artificial cephalopod organs for bio-inspired display: progress in emulating nature." <i>Matter</i> 4.8 (2021): 2639-2642.<br/>4. Wang, Yu, et al. "Generation of Complex Tunable Multispectral Signatures with Reconfigurable Protein-Based, Plasmonic-Photonic Crystal Hybrid Nanostructures." <i>Small</i> (2022): 2201036.<br/>5. Manabe, Kengo, Emiko Koyama, and Yasuo Norikane. "Cephalopods-Inspired Rapid Self-Healing Nanoclay Composite Coatings with Oxygen Barrier and Super-Bubble-Phobic Properties." <i>ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces</i> 13.30 (2021): 36341-36349.<br/>6. Ke, Yujie, et al. "Cephalopod-inspired versatile design based on plasmonic VO2 nanoparticle for energy-efficient mechano-thermochromic windows." <i>Nano Energy</i> 73 (2020): 104785.<br/>7. Kautz, R.; Gorodetsky, A. A. Revisiting A Classic Inspiration Source: Cephalopod-Derived Materials for Bioelectronics In Roadmap on Semiconductor-Cell Biointerfaces. Phys. Biol. 2018, 15, 031002.