In order to get products with antioxidant activity from Arca subcrenata Lischke, the optimal hydrolase and hydrolysis conditions were investigated in the paper. Three proteases (neutrase, alcalase and papain) were applied to hydrolyze the homogenate of A. subcrenata. An orthogonal design was used to optimize hydrolysis conditions, and the pH-stat methods was used to determine the degree of hydrolysis. Viewed from the angle of reducing power, such as scavenging activities against alpha,alpha-diphenyl-beta-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and hydrogen peroxide, the antioxidant activities of the alcalase hydrolysate (AH) were superior to neutrase hydrolysate (NH) and papain hydrolysate (PH), and its EC(50) values in DPPH radical and hydrogen peroxide scavenging effect were 6.23 mg/ml and 19.09 mg/ml, respectively. Moreover, compared with products hydrolyzed by neutrase and papain, the molecular mass of AH was lower and its content of amino acid of peptides was higher. Therefore, alcalase was selected as the optimal enzyme to produce active ingredients since its hydrolysate exhibited the best antioxidant activity among them and possessed large amount of potential active peptides.
Keywords: Arca subcrenata Lischke; antioxidant activity; hydrolysates; protease.