International Journal of Biotechnology & Biochemistry

Antioxidant agents prevent reactive oxygen species, which can cause degenerative diseases. Natural antioxidants are preferred over many synthetic antioxidants which can be toxic, for therapeutic applications. In the quest of natural antioxidants, muscle protein hydrolysates of two marine fishes Lepturacanthus savala (ribbon fish) and Sphyraena barracuda (seela fish) were prepared by the proteolytic enzyme, pepsin. The hydrolysates obtained were subjected to lipid peroxidation inhibition assay, ferric reducing Antioxidant Power, DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2 picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity etc. The free radical scavenging efficacy of the protein hydrolysates were tested and the amino acid content were determined by HPLC. The results showed that the protein hydrolysates scavenge the free radicals effectively and the ability is due to their amino acid content.