Contact
Margrét Geirsdóttir
Project Manager
mg@matis.is
Antihypertensive effect (ACE inhibitory activity) in Icelandic seafood - installation of measurement methods
The main goal of the project was to set up measurements of ACE-inhibiting activity at the Fisheries Research Institute (Matís ohf). It is Matís ohf's intention to use these measurement methods to increase the value of Icelandic seafood by examining in which products this activity is found and thus it will be possible to develop new products and acquire new markets for Icelandic seafood. The Fisheries Research Institute, LaRochelle University in France and the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Iceland worked together on this project. The reason for the project was that IFL is working on several projects where the policy is to study the so-called bioactivity (healthy / health-improving) seafood. Bioactivity is a prerequisite for being able to market products as functional food. The University of LaRochelle specializes in measuring the ACE inhibitory effects of peptides from all kinds of raw materials. These measurements have not been made in Iceland. A large part of the project was done as a final project in the M.Sc. studies in pharmacology at the University of Iceland. This report is mostly based on Lárus Freys Þórhallsson's master's thesis in the spring of 2007. A measurement method was set up and developed to measure the ACE barrier, which works to determine IC50 values according to enalapril validation. The results also indicate that some ACE inhibitory activity is found in cod hydrolyzate and was most active in hydrolyzate filtered with a 1 kDa filter. The result of the project is therefore a measurement method that will be used in numerous projects on bioactivity in Icelandic seafood. The project has an indirect effect on the value of Icelandic seafood by promoting the development of products for use in special diets, food supplements and target foods.