Six peptides were identified which should be further evaluated for their application efficacy, reaction mechanism, and bioavailability in pre-clinical and human trials. Papain, alcalase, or flavourzyme were used to obtain sea cucumber protein hydrolysate powders for analysis. While coral and sponges have proven time and again a particularly rich resource, the authors of “ UV-B Protective and Antioxidant Activities of Protein Hydrolysate From Sea Cucumber (Holothuria scabra) Using Enzymatic Hydrolysis” demonstrated that peptides from the sea cucumber ( Holothuria scabra) may be used as antioxidants with a protective effect against UV-B induced skin cell damage ( Doungapai et al.). Marine invertebrates have long been of particular interest for the discovery of bioactive compounds. The advances in analytical methods in synergy with sophisticated bioinformatics centered algorithms, provide a knowledge gain that create the basis for synthetic biology approaches enabling sustainable and scalable production of marine bioactives in recombinant microbial hosts. Deciphering complex systems biology data to identify specific natural product encoding biosynthetic pathways is increasingly automated by use of advanced bioinformatics tools. Today, advanced analytical tools, particularly applying comprehensive system biology approaches, allow the identification of selective biosynthetic pathways. In most cases this practice is significantly damaging fragile marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs.

However, most compounds discovered in marine macro-organisms are detected in minute quantities, which demands significant amounts of biomass to generate sufficient compounds for industrial application. Marine natural products are distinct by their structural diversity and unique chemical functionalization.

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