Marine Bioactive Peptides in Supplements and Functional Foods – A Commercial Perspective

Many bioactive peptides have been described from marine sources and much marine biomass is still not explored or utilized in products. Marine peptides can be developed into a variety of products, and there is a significant interest in the use of bioactive peptides from marine sources towards nutraceuticals or functional foods. We present here a mini review collecting the knowledge about the value chain of bioactive peptides from marine sources used in nutraceuticals and functional foods. Many reports describe bioactive peptides from marine sources, but in order to make these available to the consumers in commercial products it is important to connect the bioactivities associated with these peptides to commercial opportunities and possibilities. In this mini review, we present challenges and opportunities for the commercial use of bioactive peptides in nutraceuticals and functional food products. We start the paper by introducing approaches for isolation and identification of bioactive peptides and candidates for functional food. We further discuss market driven innovation targeted to ensure that isolated peptides and suggested products are marketable and acceptable by targeted consumers. To increase the commercial potential and ensure sustainability of the identified bioactive peptides and products, we discuss scalability, regulatory frameworks, production possibilities and the shift towards greener technologies. Finally, we discuss some commercial products from marine peptides within the functional food market. We discuss around the placement these products within the larger picture of the commercial sphere of functional food products from bioactive peptides.