o:39777 Algal and cyanobacterial phycocyanins are promising alternatives to serum albumin in cellular agriculture Fikocijanini iz algi i cijanobakterija kao obećavajuće alternative albuminu seruma u ćelijskoj poljoprivredi en ABSTRACT Cultured meat may require fewer resources and is less polluting than animal meat, but it remains costly to produce. One of the critical challenges in cultivated meat science is to identify/develop fetal bovine serum (FBS) alternatives as growth supplements. Among numerous molecules present in FBS, albumin is the most abundant component, which is crucial for transporting fatty acids and the antioxidant activity of serum. Significant efforts are being invested in finding albumin alternatives due to its functional importance. This study explored the potential of phycocyanins from cyanobacteria (C-Phycocyanin) and red macroalgae (R-Phycocyanin) as albumin alternatives in media for cultivating Japanese quail myoblasts. Cultured meat, Albumin, Phycobiliproteins, Phycocyanin, Fatty acids binding 1552099 10.1016/j.fufo.2026.101168 2026-09-22T12:11:22.771Z 44 yes 46 Aleksandar Ivanov Centre of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia Miloš Milčić Centre of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia person Nikola Gligorijević Centre for Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person Luka Veličković Centre of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia person Zorana Jovanović Centre of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia person Nikolina Sibinčić Innovative Centre, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia person Ljubodrag Aleksić Centre of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia person Miloš Šunderić University of Belgrade, Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy INEP, Serbia doktor biohemijskih nauka person 0000-0002-0940-9481 Marija Stojadinović Centre of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia person Tatjana Srdić Rajić Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia person Marija Takić Institute for Medical Research, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia person Milan Nikolić Centre of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia person Maja Krstić Ristivojević Centre of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia person Simeon Minić Centre of Excellence for Molecular Food Sciences, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia person application/pdf 6629173 https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:39777 no yes 17 70 92000001 11A19 11A24 11A29 11A2905 11A25 Future Foods 14 Elsevier B.V. 2026