Abstract:In this study, marine fish protein oligopeptides (MFPO) were digested through simulated gastrointestinal tract in vitro. The gel filtration chromatography, UV full wavelength scanning and circular dichroism spectrum were used to characterize the structure changes before and after digestion. DPPH free radical scavenging rate, ABTS free radical scavenging capacity, ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) were measured before and after digestion to explore the effect of simulated gastrointestinal digestion on antioxidant activity of MFPO. The components with molecular weight of 150~1000 u were the main components of MFPO, accounting for up to 88.39% revealed by the molecular weight distribution data. The MFPO was proved to have strong anti-digestion stability to pepsin and good anti-digestion stability to trypsin by UV full wavelength scanning and circular dichroism spectrum scanning. In the concentration range of 1~15 mg/mL, the DPPH free radical scavenging rate of MFPO was found positively correlated with their concentration, and the highest was 67.86%. The other three antioxidant indexes including ABTS free radical scavenging capacity, FRAP and ORAC were also determined that the antioxidant activities of MFPO increased to a certain extent after digestion, among which the ORAC value increased most significantly after pepsin followed by trypsin digestion (p<0.01). The results showed that the structure and antioxidant activity of MFPO had anti-digestion stability.