The study aimed to investigate the effects of alcalase, papain, flavourzyme, and neutrase on the structural characteristics and bioactivity stability of Cucumaria frondosa intestines and ovum hydrolysates (CFHs). The findings revealed that flavourzyme exhibited the highest hydrolysis rate (51.88% ± 1.87%). At pH 2.0, the solubility of hydrolysate was the lowest across all treatments, while the solubility at other pH levels was over 60%. The primary structures of hydrolysates of different proteases were similar, whereas the surface hydrophobicity of hydrolysates was influenced by the types of proteases used. The hydrolysates produced by different proteases were also analyzed for their absorption peaks and antioxidant activity. The hydrolysates of flavourzyme had β-fold absorption peaks (1637 cm⁻¹), while the neutrase and papain hydrolysates had N-H bending vibrations. The tertiary structure of CFHs was unfolded by different proteases, exposing the aromatic amino acids and red-shifting of the λ-peak of the hydrolysate. The alcalase hydrolysates showed better antioxidant activity in vitro and better surface hydrophobicity than the other hydrolysates. The flavourzyme hydrolysates displayed excellent antioxidant stability and pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity during gastrointestinal digestion, indicating their potential use as antioxidants in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

This study aimed to assess the impact of alcalase, trypsin, flavourzyme, and neutrase on the characteristics, antioxidant activity stability, and anti-fatigue activity of hydrolysates derived from Cucumaria frondosa tentacles (CFTHs). The results demonstrate that favourzyme hydrolysates exhibited the highest degree of hydrolysis (DH). Zeta potential and particle size measurements indicated that hydrolyzed peptides treated with favourzyme appeared aggregated and exhibited larger particle sizes. The antioxidant properties of CFTHs demonstrated good thermal stability, pH stability, and enhanced simulated gastrointestinal digestive stability. The anti-fatigue activity of CFTHs was examined using an acute exercise fatigue model. The results indicate that CFTHs extended the exhaustive swimming time of mice to 17.81 min. Additionally, CFTHs significantly elevated (p < 0.01) blood glucose (Glu) and liver glycogen (LG) levels, while also decreasing (p < 0.05) the concentrations of metabolites such as lactic acid (LA), urea nitrogen (BUN), creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and ammonia (NH3). This reduction contributed to the alleviation of fatigue in the body. Furthermore, the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were significantly increased (p < 0.05), which aided in mitigating oxidative damage induced by strenuous exercise. These findings strongly support the potential utilization of CFTHs in food products as natural antioxidant and anti-fatigue alternatives.

Squid pen (SP) was found to contain 64.41% protein and 26.03% chitin. The amino acid composition revealed that Met was the most abundant amino acid in SP, with a concentration of 13.67 g/100 g. To enhance the stability and bioavailability of SP hydrolysates, microcapsules were developed using ultrasonic emulsification techniques with SP trypsin hydrolysates (SPTH) and SP β-chitosan (SPC). The optimal preparation conditions involved using a 2% concentration of SPC, a 4 mg/mL concentration of SPTH, a core-to-wall ratio (v/v) of 1:3 for SPTH/SPC, and subjecting them to ultrasonic treatment for 20 min. These microcapsules had a loading capacity of 58.95% for SPTH under these conditions. The successful encapsulation of SPTH in the SPC complex to form SPC-SPTH microcapsules was confirmed by FTIR, XRD, DSC, and SEM, exhibiting good thermal stability, small particle size, and high encapsulation efficiency. In vitro digestion studies demonstrated a release of 15.61% in simulated gastric fluid and 69.32% in intestinal fluid, achieving targeted release in the intestines. The digested products exhibited superior antioxidant activity compared to free SPTH digests, suggesting that microencapsulation effectively preserves SPTH bioactivity. This study enhances the bioavailability of SPTH and offers a promising delivery system for natural compounds with low bioavailability and stability.

The process of aging is a multifaceted physiological phenomenon that entails the gradual deterioration of physical health. In recent years, fermented foods have garnered significant attention for their potential anti‐aging benefits; however, the effects of moderate consumption of beer on aging‐related metabolic disorders remain unexplored. Original beer, India Pale Ale (IPA), and Stout are widely consumed alcoholic beverages on a global scale. The objective of this study is to investigate and compare the effect of moderate consumption of these beers on aging‐related metabolic disorders in mice induced by D‐galactose (D‐gal), encompassing inflammation, organ impairment, oxidative stress, and dyslipidemia. Furthermore, potential mechanisms were elucidated through analysis of gut microbiota. Compared to the Original beer, oral administration of IPA and Stout effectively improved liver and kidney health in mice. All beers mitigated serum oxidative damage induced by D‐gal, with Stout exhibiting a more significant effect. Additionally, the Original beer was more effective at restoring intestinal microbiota diversity. Moreover, the tested beers elicited modifications in the composition of intestinal microbiota, including a decline in Firmicutes abundance and an elevation in Bacteroidota levels, accompanied by a decrease in harmful bacteria like Deferribacterota and an increase in beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus and Roseburia . The research findings suggest that moderate consumption of Original beer, IPA, and Stout possesses the potential to mitigate D‐gal‐induced metabolic disorders through modulation of gut microbiota dysbiosis. Consequently, these results provide valuable insights into the favorable impacts associated with moderate beer consumption on human aging and health.

Chronic ultraviolet (UV) exposure is a primary driver of skin photoaging, yet safe and effective natural interventions remain limited. This study investigated the anti-photoaging potential and mechanism of Antarctic krill peptides (AKP), a low-molecular-weight oligopeptide mixture (Mw ~331 Da, with 82.82% <500 Da) prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis and membrane fractionation. AKP exhibited excellent skin permeability in vitro. In UV-irradiated human dermal fibroblasts (HDF), AKP alleviated oxidative damage, restored superoxide dismutase activity, reduced malondialdehyde content, and promoted collagen I and XVII secretion, and inhibited matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) expression. In a chronic UV-induced mouse photoaging model, topical AKP ameliorated epidermal thickening, dermal collagen loss, and macroscopic wrinkle formation. Skin proteomics revealed that AKP upregulated estrogen receptor Esr1 and androgen receptor Ar, activating the estrogen signaling pathway, which in turn corrected aberrant keratin (Krt5/14/19) and cell-cycle protein (Cdkn1a/Ccna2) expression. Immunohistochemical validation confirmed that AKP inhibited MMP-1/9 overexpression, elevated tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), and increased deposition of collagens I, III, and XVII, thereby restoring extracellular matrix homeostasis. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that AKP combats skin photoaging through estrogen-mediated regulation of matrix degradation and repair. This work fills a mechanistic gap for Antarctic krill-derived peptides and supports their development as natural marine-based anti-aging agents.

Chronic UVB exposure drives extrinsic skin aging through oxidative stress, inflammation, and collagen degradation. Although oral collagen peptides are promising photoprotective agents, most preparations lack defined composition and mechanistic validation. Here, we characterized CCAP1, a type I collagen-derived oligopeptide fraction (~1.7 kDa; 94.69% collagen-related components) prepared from Colla Corii Asini by dual-enzymatic hydrolysis and membrane fractionation. In UVB-irradiated mice, oral CCAP1 (100 and 200 mg/kg/d, 28 days) markedly alleviated UVB-induced epidermal hyperplasia, restored skin hydration and dermal collagen types I/III/IV, and suppressed MMP1. Untargeted skin metabolomics nominated AMPK signaling as the central node; Western blotting confirmed that CCAP1 activated the AMPK/Nrf2 axis while suppressing NF-κB phosphorylation, with elevated SOD activity and reduced MDA content. In UVB-injured HaCaT keratinocytes, CCAP1 restored cell viability and reduced intracellular ROS, and both effects were abolished by the AMPK inhibitor Compound C, establishing AMPK as a functionally required mediator. Collectively, CCAP1 is a composition-defined, orally bioavailable collagen peptide fraction that attenuates UVB-induced photoaging via an AMPK-dependent Nrf2/NF-κB regulatory program.