Ethanol consumption-induced oxidative stress that is a major etiological factor has been proven to play important roles in organs’ injury. In the present study, we investigated the protective effect of fish protein hydrolysate prepared from the heads and viscera of sardinelle (Sardinella aurita) (SPH) against the toxicity of ethanol on the liver and kidney of adult male rats. Animals were divided into four groups of six animals each: group C served as control, group Eth received 30 % ethanol solution at the dose of 3 g/kg body weight, group SPH received only 7.27 mg of SPH/kg body weight, and group Eth-SPH received ethanol and SPH simultaneously at the doses of 30 % and 7.27 mg/kg body weight, respectively. All groups were treated by gavage way for 15 days. Ethanol treatment decreased the defense enzymatic system including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), which increased after the co-administration of SPH. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and toxicity biomarker levels such as aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) and alcaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma-glutamyl transaminase (GGT) activities were enhanced after chronic ethanol treatment and reduced by co-treatment with SPH. The histological examination of the liver and kidney confirmed biochemical changes in ethanol-treated rats and demonstrated the protective role of SPH.

Enzymatic conversion of fish frame waste of threadfin breams (Nemipterus japonicus) to protein hydrolysate could be a solution for minimizing the pollution issues related to seafood processing operations and a way for the value addition to processing by-products. Protein hydrolysates from fish frame waste (FW) of thread fin breams (N. japonicus) were prepared and evaluated for bioactive properties such as angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity and antioxidant and functional properties as a function of degree of hydrolysis (DH). Two different plant proteases, papain and bromelain, were used to prepare fish protein hydrolysates (FPH) and designated as HP (hydrolysates prepared using papain) and HB (hydrolysates prepared using bromelain). The ACE inhibitory activity of HP samples was higher at 5 and 10 % DH than that of the HB samples at DH 15 %, and there was no significant difference (p < 0.05). Antioxidant properties (2, 2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl [DPPH] radical scavenging activity, ferric reducing power and lipid peroxidation inhibition) of hydrolysates increased with increase in DH. The HB samples at DH 15 % had significantly higher antioxidant properties than HP samples (p < 0.05). The solubility of HP and HB samples was high in a wide range of pH and increased with DH. The functional properties of HP and HB samples decreased significantly with increase in DH (p < 0.05). The fractionation of the HB–DH 15 % sample yielded three peptide fractions with the approximate molecular weight of peptides in the range of 7562–812 Da. Relatively, bromelain enzyme is more effective in producing the FPH with desirable bioactive and functional properties.