Revolution in cultivated proteins and emerging biotechnologies for sustainable food

Considering environmental, climate, economic and nutritional challenges, the food transformation’s systems has become a global strategic priority. Additionally, owing to its natural resource’s intensity, greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on vulnerable agricultural ecosystems, protein production, including those of animal origin, is identified as one of the main contributors to the overall human’s food ecological footprint. Besides, plant proteins have been partially reduced this footprint, and their large-scale development faces technological, functional and environmental limitations related to extraction and industrial processing. Nevertheless, crop proteins, microbial proteins and fermentation products are emerging as new generation of protein solutions, based on controlled biotechnological processes and potentially separated from traditional agricultural constraints. These approaches are part of a protein transition, combining environmental sustainability, food security, industrial innovation and climate change’s resilience. This article provides a comprehensive synthesis of the conceptual foundations, production technologies, and socio-economic constraints and environmental impacts combined with cultivated proteins and aims to reposition them as a structural pillar of alternative proteins, linked to sustainable agriculture, the circular bioeconomy and the emerging principles of industry 5.0 based on recent scientific literature.