Antioxidant peptides from marine origin: sources, properties and potential applications

摘要

Synthetic antioxidants are currently used to retard the oxidation process in food products. However, their use must be under strict regulation due to potential health hazards. The search for natural antioxidants is therefore of great interest. Marine sources are rich in naturally occurring compounds with antioxidant activity. Fish processing by-products, seaweeds and other marine organisms are good sources of antioxidant peptides. A number of commercial proteases, as well as fi sh endogenous enzymes, have been used for the production of marine protein hydrolysates. Marine peptides are well known as lipid peroxidation inhibitors, free radical scavengers and metal chelators. They also may protect living cells against free radical mediated oxidative damage. Antioxidative properties are strongly related to molecular weight, amino acid composition, hydrophobicity and peptide sequence. Antioxidant peptides from marine origin can be employed in supplements to enhance the body defenses against oxidative stress or in food products to avoid lipid oxidation