Insect-derived bioactive peptides have attracted increasing attention as sustainable natural antioxidants. This review summarizes recent progress in antioxidant peptides obtained from edible insects, including mealworms, black soldier fly larvae, silkworm pupae, and crickets. Current studies mainly focus on enzymatic hydrolysis, simulated gastrointestinal digestion, peptide fractionation, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) identification, and antioxidant activity evaluation. These peptides may exert antioxidant effects through radical scavenging, metal ion chelation, enhancement of endogenous antioxidant enzymes, and regulation of oxidative stress-related pathways such as Keap1-nuclear factor erythroid 2‑related factor 2 (Nrf2) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB). However, many studies remain at the hydrolysate or peptide-fraction level, and evidence from in vivo validation, digestion stability, bioavailability, and structure-activity relationship analysis is still limited. Future research should emphasize sequence-level validation, multi-level biological evaluation, standardized preparation, and scalable production to support the application of insect-derived antioxidant peptides in functional foods and nutraceuticals.
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Xie, K. (2026) Insect-derived Bioactive Peptides with Antioxidant Activity: Sources, Preparation, Mechanisms, and Future Perspectives. Scientific Research Bulletin, 3(1), 77-85.