Free radical scavenging activity of the peptide from the Alcalase hydrolysate of the edible aquacultural seahorse ( Hippocampus abdominalis )

Abstract

Seahorses, Hippocampus abdominalis, have a long history in traditional Chinese medicine as an important healthy ingredient in foods. This study evaluated the antioxidant activity of an enzymatic hydrolysate prepared from a seahorse bred in Jeju, South Korea. Experiments were performed in vitro using electron spin resonance spectrometry (ESR) to determine the free radical scavenging activity and in vivo using a zebrafish model to determine the protective effects against 2,2‐azobis hydrochloride (AAPH)‐induced oxidative damage. H. abdominalis protein hydrolysate (HPH) exhibited peroxyl radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 0.58 mg/ml) generated by the water‐soluble AAPH (azo initiator of peroxyl radicals). HPH reduced dose‐dependently both intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in AAPH‐induced cells and cell death in AAPH‐induced zebrafish embryos. The antioxidant peptide purified from HPH was identified as a tripeptide (alanine–glycine–aspartic acid) using Q‐TOF ESI mass spectroscopy. Thus, this study demonstrated that HPH contains antioxidant peptides that exhibit a strong antioxidant activity. Practical applications Hippocampus abdominalis is one of the largest seahorse species and cultivated in many countries. Because of its large body size compared to other seahorse species, H. abdominalis has acquired considerable consumer attraction in the global market. Owing to its biologically useful properties, it recently gained attention as the natural products obtained from H. abdominalis have varied applications in the field of medicine, health care products, and functional foods. Thus, commercial products of this particular seahorse species are popular among customers, especially in China. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant property of H. abdominalism, cultured in a commercial seahorse farm in Jeju Island. Owing to its prominent antioxidant activity, it could be used as an ingredient in medicinal preparations, nutraceuticals, and functional foods.

Protective Effects of Novel Antioxidant Peptide Purified from Alcalase Hydrolysate of Velvet Antler Against Oxidative Stress in Chang Liver Cells In Vitro and in a Zebrafish Model In Vivo

“…Among these three MW groups, the <5 kDa fraction showed the strongest peroxyl radical scavenging activity. Previous reports have found that food proteins hydrolysates can be separated into three fractions (>10 kDa, 5–10 kDa and <5 kDa) by UF according to MW and that the <5 kDa fraction exhibits the strongest free radical scavenging activity [6,17,24]. Results of the present study also demonstrated that low MW fraction of Alcalase-proteolytic hydrolysate had higher free radical scavenging activity than higher MW fractions.…”

“…Among these hydrolysates, Alcalase-derived hydrolysate possessed the highest peroxyl radical scavenging activity. Although the trypsin hydrolysate also showed a potent peroxyl radical scavenging activity, Alcalase can produce shorter peptide sequences and terminal amino acid sequences responsible for various bioactivities as well as useful for the production of bioactive peptide [16,17,18]. Therefore, Alcalase hydrolysate was selected to identify antioxidant peptide for further studies.…”

“…Alcalase hydrolysate showed the highest peroxyl radical scavenging activity. In addition, several studies have suggested that Alcalase is useful for the production of bioactive peptide from food proteins [16,17,18,20,21]. Moreover, Alcalase can produce shorter peptide sequences and terminal amino acid sequences responsible for various bioactivities [16,18].…”

Brassicasterol from Edible Aquacultural Hippocampus abdominalis Exerts an Anti-Cancer Effect by Dual-Targeting AKT and AR Signaling in Prostate Cancer

“…Seahorse has various biomedical benefits. Seahorse has been reported to have anti-cancer [ 20 , 21 ], antimicrobial [ 22 ], anti-rheumatism [ 23 , 24 ], anti-oxidant [ 25 , 26 ], anti-inflammation [ 27 ], benign prostatic hyperplasia alleviative [ 28 ], and neuroprotective effects [ 29 , 30 ]. The two studies for anticancer effect of seahorse showed bioactive compounds and peptide from seahorse and their anti-metastatic ability in HT 1080 human fibrosarcoma cells.…”

Effects of food type, temperature and salinity on the growth performance and antioxidant status of the longsnout seahorse,Hippocampus reidi

“…Antioxidants can be received through food ingestion and/or produced within the animal's body (Castex, Pierrette, Wabete, & Chim, 2009; Hamre et al., 2016). For example, seahorses used as traditional medicine exhibited high antioxidant activity and could inhibit intracellular reactive oxygen species (Kim et al., 2019; Qian, Kang, & Kim, 2012; Yin & Tang, 2012; Zhang, Ryu, & Qian, 2017). However, the antioxidant capacity of seahorses under different culture conditions needs further evaluation.…”