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Abstract
With a growing population comes an increase in demand for food. However, these food sources are limited by the supply and sustainability of natural resources currently available on the planet. This dissertation aims to introduce edible, sustainable, environmentally friendly, and consumer appealing alternative seafood production platforms. The novel technique of touch spinning is used to produce 3D fiber scaffolds with easily controllable fiber diameters (40nm-5μm), mechanical characteristics, and alignment. Fibers are spun from a polymer solution of polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) in chloroform and uniformly collected and assembled into 3D fiber scaffolds. The use of 3D fiber scaffolds allows for consumption of less resources and provides more realistic support and texture for cultivated seafood applications. Comparison of conventional 2D cell culture to the newly developed 3D culture scaffolds shows the efficiency of 3D scaffolding methods. Not only do 3D scaffolds allow for more cell proliferation and growth in the same culture conditions as 2D platforms but also provide a structure that more closely mimics the desired final product texture and mouthfeel. This texture is achieved with the structural support of highly aligned and stable fibers and comes from the development of fused fiber scaffolds. These scaffolding layers were then combined to form scaled-up scaffolds that exceeded the known and dreaded 200-micron limit. The novel cell line Dicentrarchus labrax (DLEC) collected from European sea bass provided the study foundation with 3T3 fibroblasts used as a supporting cell line.