Citrus sunki Peel Extract Enhances Proliferation and Differentiation of Fibro-Adipocyte Progenitors in Holstein Cattle for Cultivated Meat Production

The importance of fat cell culture is increasing in the process of cultured meat production to improve meat quality. Among them, intramuscular fat, which greatly affects its quality, is mainly derived from fibro-adipogenic progenitor cells (FAPs). In this study, the effect of Citrus sunki peel extract (CPE) on the proliferation and adipose differentiation of FAPs isolated from muscle of Holstein cattle was investigated to enhance the proliferation and differentiation abilities of FAPs. FAPs were cultured in basal medium (C) or basal medium supplemented with 0.05% dimethyl-sulfoxide (C_DMSO) or basal medium supplemented with 50, 100, 200, 300, and 400 µg/mL CPE (CPE50, CPE100, CPE200, CPE300, and CPE400). Live cell counts of CPE100 was significantly higher than in C and C_DMSO. The results of MTS assay revealed significantly higher levels of CPE50 and CPE100 than in C and C_DMSO. In RT-qPCR and Western blot experiments, the gene expression (CEBPA, CEBPB and PPARG) and protein expression (FASN, CEBPB, and PPARG) in FAPs cultured with CPE was significantly higher than or comparable to C. In conclusion, the addition of CPE (especially 100 µg/mL) enhanced the proliferation and differentiation of FAP of Holstein cattle for cultured meat development.