Abstract
Single cell protein (SCP) is a promising alternative to animal-derived protein, offering high productivity with low environmental impact. However, SCP performance varies widely across microbial species. This review systematically and quantitatively compares 57 bacterial SCP candidates in terms of safety, protein quality, and production efficiency, integrating multivariate analysis to highlight representative high-performing species and remaining data gaps, and providing a framework for rational species selection toward sustainable protein supply.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Yoshiaki Ohashi, Chief Executive Officer of Fermecutes, Inc., a single cell protein (SCP) company, for providing information and participating in interviews with us. We thank Prof. Masahiro Sugimoto for proposing the approach used to reduce subjectivity in highlighting representative candidates. We thank American Journal Experts for English language editing. This work was supported by the SFC Education Promotion Foundation Fall 2024 Incentives to Study and Conduct Research program, JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 24K21257 (Challenging Research [Pioneering]), project JPNP20004 subsidized by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), the Tsuruoka Gastronomic Innovation Project, Tsuruoka City, and Yamagata Prefecture.
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Takegawa, R., Kono, N. Species selection criteria for sustainable bacterial single cell protein. npj Sci Food (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-026-00828-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-026-00828-1
