Chapter 2 - Antioxidant properties of marine proteins and peptides

Abstract

Marine creatures exhibit a rich source of bioactive nitrogenous components with a wide range of structural diversity. Numerous bioactive peptides, such as antioxidant peptides, have been discovered in various marine protein resources in recent years. Many research analyses have concluded that marine antioxidant peptides provide multiple benefits to human health and the food sector. The antioxidant action of these peptides is due to their ability to scavenge free radicals, prevent lipid peroxidation, or chelate metal ions. Furthermore, it has been established that the structure of peptides and their amino acid sequence bears a significant role in their antioxidant activity. Owing to their wide range of bioactivities, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiaging properties, bioactive proteins and peptides generated from marine fish particularly attract the attention of the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmeceutical sectors. Because of their antioxidant and tissue regeneration properties, the production of cosmeceuticals using marine fish-derived proteins and peptides has risen. The technology employs chemical or enzymatic processing of marine byproducts. Antioxidant peptides are progressively accepted as food products and find their addition in functional foods and nutraceuticals, to protect the human body from lipid and protein oxidation, thereby alleviating oxidative stress. This paper describes the occurrence and application of the different types of antioxidant peptides from marine resources. The interconnection between their structural aspects and antioxidant activity is also examined in the chapter, discussing contemporary technologies employed in the production, purification, and assessment of antioxidant peptides from marine sources.