Abstract: The sustainable development of the food industry is hindered by the threat of drug resistance, which is caused by the overuse of antibiotics. Fortunately, marine fish-derived antimicrobial peptides with broad-spectrum activity are considered to be the best new antibiotic substitutes in the future. Therefore, discovering more antimicrobial peptides from marine fish and exploring its application in the field of food safety have become a hot research topic. This paper reviews recent progress in understanding the structure, biological activity and mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides derived from marine fish, and it discusses future prospects for the application of the antimicrobial peptides in food safety. This paper is expected to provide evidence rationale for the research and utilization of antimicrobial peptides derived from marine fish.

Key words: marine fish-derived antimicrobial peptides; biological activity; mechanism of action; cell membrane action model; food safety