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Antioxidant peptides were derived from the edible part of Indian squid, Loligo duvauceli, via the use of gastrointestinal enzymes for up to 12 hours. The active α-chymotrypsin hydrolysate exhibited the maximum activity compared to the trypsin and pepsin hydrolysates, as assessed by various radical scavenging and metal chelating assays. Moreover, essential and non-essential amino acids were present in the active hydrolysate. Furthermore, the hydrolysate was purified by ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography using fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). The purified peptide exhibited strong free radical scavenging, metal chelation and reducing power abilities that were confirmed with a UV-visible and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometer. The peptide also prevented DNA damage and inhibited lipid peroxidation due to its small size (682.5 Da) and content of the high redox potential amino acid sequence Trp-Cys-Thr-Ser-Val-Ser, which was confirmed by ESI-MS/MS. This peptide exhibited no cytotoxic effects on breast cancer cells (MCF7) and scavenged reactive oxygen species at the cellular level under H2O2-induced stress. These results suggest that the peptide derived from squid mantle protein acts as a potent antioxidant against oxidative stress and could be used as an efficient and safer adjunct in food processing.

Objective To determine the proximate and fatty acid composition of muscle, viscera, skin and bone of marine fish's horse mackerel and croaker. Methods Freshly collected fishes were dissected and their moisture, ash and protein content were estimated gravimetrically by AOAC procedure and the lipid was extracted using chloroform, methanol and water in a ratio proposed by Bligh and Dyer. Extracted lipid was injected into gas chromatography connected to BPX-70 glass column to evaluate the fatty acid composition. Results All the body parts analyzed had varying moisture content in between 73%–83%. Horse mackerel contained less than 3% and croaker had above 4% of lipid in all the body parts except muscle (1.4%). Fatty acid and lipid class composition was determined for all the body parts and the dominant polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) was docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Conclusion Both the fish species showed variation, in protein content, lipid content and fatty acid composition. However, croaker had more remarkable quantity of lipid than horse mackerel.

Body, foot and viscera of Donax cuneatus (Linnaeus) were hydrolyzed using commercial proteases (pepsin, trypsin and papain) and tested for their antioxidant activity by DPPH scavenging ability and reducing power assays. In comparison between all the hydrolysates, papain viscera (28.513 ± 0.165 & 0.186 ± 0.008) and foot (33.567 ± 0.132 & 0.166 ± 0.013) hydrolysates showed highest DPPH and reducing power ability respectively. The active hydrolysates were purified with DEAE- cellulose followed by Sephadex G-25 columns connected to FPLC. Further, the isolated active fractions were loaded onto HPLC for their amino acid profiling and found with the presence of potential amino acids viz., histidine, cysteine, alanine etc. These results suggest that the isolated antioxidant peptide from viscera and foot hydrolysate of D. cuneatus can be used in treating human diseases where free radicals and oxidative damage are involved.