Jellyfish collagen (JC) was extracted from jellyfish umbrella and hydrolyzed to prepare jellyfish collagen hydrolysate (JCH). The effects of JC and JCH on UV-induced skin damage of mice were evaluated by the skin moisture, microscopic analyses of skin and immunity indexes. The skin moisture analyses showed that moisture retention ability of UV-induced mice skin was increased by JC and JCH. Further histological analysis showed that JC and JCH could repair the endogenous collagen and elastin protein fibers, and could maintain the natural ratio of type I to type III collagen. The immunity indexes showed that JC and JCH play a role in enhancing immunity of photoaging mice in vivo. JCH showed much higher protective ability than JC. These results suggest that JCH as a potential novel antiphotoaging agent from natural resources.

Tilapia frame protein was hydrolyzed by different proteases, including properase E, pepsin, trypsin, flavourzyme, neutrase, gc106 and papain, to obtain antioxidant peptides. The tilapia frame protein hydrolysate (TFPH) obtained by trypsin exhibited the highest degree of hydrolysis and antioxidant activity. Three series of peptides (TFPH1, TFPH 2 and TFPH 3) were obtained by ultrafiltration of TFPH through molecular weight cut-off membranes of 5, 3 and 1 kDa, respectively, and their IC₅₀ values on scavenging 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, superoxide anion radical (^•O₂), hydrogen peroxides (H₂O₂) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) activities were determined and compared with glutathione (GSH). The results showed that TFPH1 had the highest antioxidant activity. TFPH1 was further purified using ion exchange chromatography, gel filtration chromatography, and reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Finally, two antioxidant peptides were identified and the amino acid sequences were identified as Asp-Cys-Gly-Tyr (456.12 Da) and Asn-Tyr-Asp-Glu-Tyr (702.26 Da), respectively. The IC₅₀ values of two peptides on hydroxyl radical scavenging activity were 27.6 and 38.4 μg/mL, respectively.

Antihypertensive effect of long-term oral administration of jellyfish (Rhopilema esculentum) collagen peptides (JCP) on renovascular hypertension rats (RVHs) was evaluated. The systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure of the RVHs were significantly reduced with administration of JCP (p < 0.05), compared with model control group. However, the arterial blood pressure of normal rats showed no significant changes during long-term oral treatment with high dose JCP (p > 0.05). Furthermore, effect of JCP on angiotensin II (Ang II) concentration of plasma had no significance (p > 0.05), but JCP significantly inhibited the Ang II concentration in RVHs’ kidney (p < 0.05). The kidney should be the target site of JCP.