Marine-derived Products as Pharmaceutical Treasure Troves: A Focus on Recent Research Techniques and Potentia Bioactive Activities of Marine Peptides

With the intensified exploration of marine resources, marine bioactive peptides have become one of the research focuses in biomedicine, food science, and material science depending on their structural diversity, unique biological activities, and broad application potential. Currently, marine peptide extraction transcends chemical extraction and enzymatic hydrolysis, with microbial fermentation and gastrointestinal simulation technologies broadening their diversity. Furthermore, the integration of multi-chromatographic techniques and advanced detectors has significantly enhanced the speed of marine peptide identification. Due to the versatile biological activities of marine peptides including immunoregulatory, anti-oxidant, antibacterial, antitumor, hypotensive and hypoglycemic effects, they not only enrich the candidate pool for marine drug development but also offer fresh perspectives in tackling numerous health challenges faced by humanity. Importantly, substantial progress has been achieved in screening, identifying, and elucidating the mechanisms of marine bioactive peptides, driven by advancements in high-throughput technologies and the bioinformatics. However, marine peptide research continues to grapple with challenges including complex sourcing, hurdles in bulk acquisition, and inadequate exploration of biological activities. Hence, this article concisely outlines the recent progress in extraction, purification, and identification methods for marine-derived biological peptides, research endeavors into their biological activities, and the incorporation of bioinformatics technology in marine peptide studies.