A search for bioactive peptides in fish mucus

Bioprospecting, i.e., search for bioactive compounds, in fish by-products has a potential to convert low-value products into more valuable products. Bioactive compounds from various natural sources have been found to possess a range of biological activities e.g. anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial or immunomodulatory activities, and they have been very valuable in the therapeutic armory (aspirin, penicillin, cyclosporine, and rapamycin are but a few examples). There are several recent examples of anti-microbial compounds, often of peptidic nature, from fish (Bergsson et al., 2005; Luders et al., 2005; Patrzykat and Douglas, 2005; Narvaez et al., 2010; Bragadeeswaran et al., 2011; Rajanbabu and Chen, 2011). Still, this source of biodiversity has been seriously underexploited in bioprospecting terms (Patrzykat et al., 2003), but often overexploited in commercial fisheries. Nations heavily dependent on fishing could create more value from the same amount of catch by bioprospecting the secondary products.