The techno-functional properties of ovomucin as a gel-forming agent and its biological properties are well-known. The aim of the present study was to investigate antioxidant activity in ovomucin hydrolysate using radical scavenging assays. Electrophoresis showed that ovomucin isolated from whole egg was well separated. Ovomucin hydrolysis was carried out using microbial protease according to different incubation times. These ovomucin hydrolysates exhibited 85% antioxidant activity as measured by the 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) assay after a 2 h incubation with protease and retained 90% activity until 24 h. At an incubation time of 4 h, the activity of ovomucin hydrolysates reached approximately 90%, corresponding to 115 μM gallic acid equivalent, regardless of the proteases used. The partially purified fraction of the hydrolysate by ultrafiltration and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was collected and then analyzed by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Two peptides, LDEPDPL and NIQTDDFRT, in this fraction were identified. The antioxidant activities of these two synthesized peptides were measured to be 51.8 and 24.7% by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity was evaluated for the low-molecular-weight fraction (<3 kDa) obtained from milk fermentation by Bifidobacterium longum KACC91563. The ACE inhibitory activity in this fraction was 62.3%. The peptides generated from the <3 kDa fraction were identified by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization quantitative time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis. Of the 28 peptides identified, 11 and 16 were identified as β-casein (CN) and αs1-CN, respectively. One peptide was identified as κ-CN. Three peptides, YQEPVLGPVRGPFPIIV, QEPVLGPVRGPFPIIV, and GPVRGPFPIIV, from β-CN corresponded to known antihypertensive peptides. We also found 15 peptides that were identified as potential antihypertensive peptides because they included a known antihypertensive peptide fragment. These peptides were as follows: RELEELNVPGEIVE (f1-14), YQEPVLGPVRGPFP (f193-206), EPVLGPVRGPFPIIV (f195-206), PVLGPVRGPFPIIV (f196-206), VLGPVRGPFPIIV (f197-206), and LGPVRGPFPIIV (f198-206) for β-CN; and APSFSDIPNPIGSENSEKTTMPLW (f176-199), SFSDIPNPIGSENSEKT- TMPLW (f178-199), FSDIPNPIGSENSEKTTMPLW (f179-199), SDIPNPIGSENSEKTTMPLW (f180-199), DIPNPIGSENSEKTTMPLW (f181-199), IPNPIGSENSEKTTMPLW (f182-199), PIGSENSEKTTMPLW (f185-199), IGSENSEKTTMPLW (f186-199), and SENSEKTTMPLW (f188-199) for αs1-CN. From these results, B. longum could be used as a starter culture in combination with other lactic acid bacteria in the dairy industry, and/or these peptides could be used in functional food manufacturing as additives for the development of a product with beneficial effects for human health.

Gelatin is a collagen-containing thermohydrolytic substance commonly incorporated in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. This study investigated the antioxidant activity of gelatin by using different reagents, such as 2,2-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), 2,2-di (4-tert-octylphenyl)-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and oxygen radical absorbance capacity-fluorescein (ORAC-FL) in a porcine gelatin hydrolysate obtained using gastrointestinal enzymes. Electrophoretic analysis of the gelatin hydrolysis products showed extensive degradation by pepsin and pancreatin, resulting in an increase in the peptide concentration (12.1 mg/mL). Antioxidant activity, as measured by ABTS, exhibited the highest values after 48-h incubation with pancreatin treatment after pepsin digestion. Similar effects were observed at 48 h incubation, that is, 61.5% for the DPPH assay and 69.3% for the ABTS assay. However, the gallic acid equivalent (GE) at 48 h was 87.8 µM, whereas 14.5 µM GE was obtained using the ABTS and DPPH assays, indicating about sixfold increase. In the ORAC-FL assay, antioxidant activity corresponding to 45.7 µM of trolox equivalent was found in the gelatin hydrolysate after 24 h hydrolysis with pancreatin treatment after pepsin digestion, whereas this activity decreased at 48 h. These antioxidant assay results showed that digestion of gelatin by gastrointestinal enzymes prevents oxidative damage.