Lior Raviv, Pluri’s chief technical officer, says: “We hypothesized we could take the cells from the plant and put them in a bioreactor [to grow coffee].” Through their work in cell therapy and cultivated meat, the Pluri team knew that not all cells like the same growing conditions. Taking plant cell samples, they made cell lines and, instead of growing them swirling around in suspension culture, they used a packed-bed bioreactor. The coffee cells slowly flow through, taking on a tissue-like structure. The cells are fed salts and vitamins, and their natural metabolism then takes over to produce secondary metabolites such as caffeine. The resulting biomass, which forms as small clumps, is dried and gently roasted. The final product looks and tastes like ground coffee. Pluri is now focusing on scaling up and seeking regulatory approvals.

Stem, a Paris-based company, is also propagating and fermenting coffee cells lines derived from coffee plants in bioreactors. The company adds natural flavors taken from coffee byproducts to the resulting green coffee powder, which they dry and roast like coffee beans. Another startup, California Cultured, is applying plant cell culture technology to both coffee and cocoa beans.

Pluri 首席技术官 Lior Raviv 表示：“我们假设可以从植物中提取细胞，并将它们放入生物反应器中（用于种植咖啡）。” 通过在细胞治疗和培育肉类方面的工作，Pluri 团队知道并非所有细胞都喜欢相同的生长条件。他们采集植物细胞样本，制作细胞系，并使用填充床生物反应器，而不是在悬浮培养物中旋转生长它们。咖啡细胞慢慢流过，呈现出组织状结构。这些细胞被喂食盐和维生素，然后它们的自然新陈代谢产生次生代谢产物，例如咖啡因。所得的生物质形成小团块，被干燥并轻轻烘烤。最终产品的外观和味道都像研磨咖啡。Pluri 目前正专注于扩大规模并寻求监管部门的批准。

总部位于巴黎的 Stem 公司也在生物反应器中繁殖和发酵源自咖啡植物的咖啡细胞系。该公司将从咖啡副产品中提取的天然香料添加到所得的生咖啡粉中，然后像咖啡豆一样干燥和烘焙。另一家初创公司 California Cultured 正在将植物细胞培养技术应用于咖啡和可可豆。