Identification of Peptides Implicated in Antibacterial Activity of Snow Crab Hepatopancreas Hydrolysates by a Bioassay-Guided Fractionation Approach Combined with Mass Spectrometry

Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) by-products are a rich source of biomolecules, such as lipids, proteins, and chitin, which have not been extensively investigated. This study aims to identify antibacterial peptides to enhance the value of C. opilio by-products. After hydrolysis of different component parts using Protamex®, and concentration by solid-phase extraction, the resulting fractions were tested for antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Listeria innocua, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Hepatopancreas was the only tissue to display antibacterial activity detected using this protocol. Four fractions obtained with and without enzymatic hydrolysis of hepatopancreas followed by SPE C18 fractionation and elution with 50 and 80% acetonitrile demonstrated bacteriostatic activity against L. innocua HPB13, from concentrations of 0.30 to 43.05 mg/mL of peptides/proteins. Eleven peptides sharing at least 80% amino acid homology with four antimicrobial peptides were identified by mass spectrometry. Two peptides had homology to crustin-like and yellowfin tuna GAPDH antimicrobial peptides belonging to the marine organisms Penaeus monodon and Thunnus albacares, respectively. Other peptide sequence homologies were also identified: Odorranain-C7 from the frog Odorrana grahami and a predicted antibacterial peptide in the Asian ladybeetle Harmonia axyridis. These active peptides may represent a novel group of bioactive peptides deserving further investigation as food preservatives.