Identification of antioxidant peptides derived from egg‐white protein and its protective effects on H₂O₂‐induced cell damage

Summary To identify novel antioxidant peptides from egg‐white protein and investigate antioxidant mechanism, the hydrolysate of egg‐white protein was purified by ultrafiltration and a Sephadex G‐15 column. The peptides VYLPR, EVYLPR, VEVYLPR and VVEVYLPR were identified from the fraction with the highest antioxidant activity. The Results showed that the peptide VYLPR exhibited the strongest protective effect on HEK‐293 cells. The viability of cells recovered to 97.45 ± 1.98% with pre‐treatment of 20 μ m VYLPR. We further investigated antioxidant mechanism. The results showed VYLPR could inhibit lipid peroxidation process, maintain cell membrane integrity, inhibit intracellular LDH activity, reduce MDA content, and improve the activity of antioxidant enzyme T‐SOD and GSH‐Px. This work could help researchers in understanding antioxidant mechanism of peptides and also contribute to developing functional egg‐white product.