Seafood as Source of Protein‐based Functional Foods

Fish provided almost 20 percent of the global population's intake of animal protein. The biological value of fish protein is 75, which means that 75 percent of the nitrogen from fish protein that we consume is absorbed and retained by the human body. Sarcoplasmic proteins, myofibrillar proteins, and stromal proteins found in in fish are easily digestible. Fish proteins also consist of essential amino acids that are required for human nutrition. Converting seafood into fish protein hydrolysates (FPH) is considered one of the most effective and efficient technologies to recover valuable protein or peptides from seafood. FPH can be produced by hydrolysing fish muscle or other body parts using chemicals or enzymes. Generally, peptides produced from the hydrolysis process contain between 2–20 amino acids. Several fish peptides are known to have antioxidant, antihypertensive, and antimicrobial activities.