Cited by 112Protein Hydrolysis and Bioactive PeptidesAntimicrobial Peptides and ActivitiesMicrobial Natural Products and Biosynthesis

Bioactivity of Marine-Derived Peptides and Proteins: A Review

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Shahidi, Fereidoon, Saeid, Abu·2025·Marine Drugs

Abstract

The marine environment, covering over 70% of the Earth’s surface, serves as a reservoir of bioactive molecules, including peptides and proteins. Due to the unique and often extreme marine conditions, these molecules exhibit distinctive structural features and diverse functional properties, making them promising candidates for therapeutic applications. Marine-derived bioactive peptides, typically consisting of 3 to 40 amino acid residues—though most commonly, 2 to 20—are obtained from parent proteins through chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis, microbial fermentation, or gastrointestinal digestion. Like peptides, protein hydrolysates from collagen, a dominant protein of such materials, play an important role. Peptide bioactivities include antioxidant, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, and anti-cancer effects as well as immunoregulatory and wound-healing activities. These peptides exert their effects through mechanisms such as enzyme inhibition, receptor modulation, and free radical scavenging, among others. Fish, algae, mollusks, crustaceans, microbes, invertebrates, and marine by-products such as skin, bones, and viscera are some of the key marine sources of bioactive proteins and peptides. The advancements in the extraction and purification processes, e.g., enzymatic hydrolysis, ultrafiltration, ion-exchange chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and molecular docking, facilitate easy identification and purification of such bioactive peptides in greater purity and activity. Despite their colossal potential, their production, scale-up, stability, and bioavailability are yet to be enhanced for industrial applications. Additional work needs to be carried out for optimal extraction processes, to unravel the mechanisms of action, and to discover novel marine sources. This review emphasizes the enormous scope of marine-derived peptides and proteins in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and functional food industries, emphasizing their role in health promotion and risk reduction of chronic diseases.

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  • Peptides from Chlorella vulgaris and Palmaria palmata have vasodilatory and antioxidant effects, contributing to vascular homeostasis through NO modulation and ROS scavenging.

    “Similar vasodilatory and antioxidant effects have been attributed to peptides from Chlorella vulgaris and Palmaria palmata (Rhodophyta), contributing to vascular homeostasis through both NO modulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging [69].”

    From Navigating the potential of algal peptides: health effects, market applications, and scientific challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [69]

    Section 4.1 reports antioxidant activity for Chlorella vulgaris hydrolysates, and the table in Section 4.11 reports antioxidant activity for a Palmaria palmata peptide. Neither passage attributes vasodilation, vascular homeostasis, or NO modulation to peptides from these species; the antihypertensive examples in Section 4.4 concern other algae. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Shahidi, F., & Saeid, A.
Affiliations
Memorial University of Newfoundland (CA)
Corresponding author
Shahidi, Fereidoon
Venue
Marine Drugs
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2025-04-04
Volume
23
Issue
4
Pages
157
ISSN
1660-3397 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4409167717
Cited by
112
References
286
Citations by year
2026: 84 · 2025: 28
FWCI
9.83
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Marine Drugs (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protein Hydrolysis and Bioactive Peptides
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Antimicrobial Peptides and Activities
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis
Keywords
marine-derived peptides, marine proteins, bioactive peptides, protein hydrolysates, collagen peptides, enzymatic hydrolysis, antioxidant activity, antihypertensive effect, antidiabetic activity, antimicrobial peptides, anti-inflammatory activity, anticoagulant activity, anticancer activity, immunomodulatory activity, wound healing, nutraceuticals, functional foods, cosmeceuticals, marine by-products, marine organisms
MeSH terms
Animals, Biological Products, Humans, Peptides, Proteins, Aquatic Organisms

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