Gelatins from sika deer exhibit antioxidant effects and could potentially be new health promoting resources

A research group led by Professor Wei Li from the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University, Japan, in collaboration with Dalian Medical University, China, and Hokkaido Rokubiken Co., Ltd., Japan, has discovered that gelatins from the antlers, skin, and bones of sika deer (Cervus Nippon) exhibit antioxidant activity. Further studies are expected to explore how gelatins from sika deer can be effectively utilized as health promoting resources to prevent or reduce oxidative stress. The research was published in the “Pharmacognosy Research” on June 13, 2024.

Key Findings

• Gelatins extracted from the antlers, skins, or bones of sika deer from Hokkaido exhibit antioxidant activity.
• Sika deer gelatins demonstrated stronger antioxidant activity than commonly consumed gelatins and collagen peptides from bovine, pig and fish sources.
• Future research is expected to promote the effective use of gelatins from sika deer as health promoting resources for the prevention and reduction of oxidative stress.

Research Summary
The increase in the population of sika deer (Cervus Nippon) across Japan has led to societal issues, such as damage to agriculture and forestry, an increase in traffic accidents, and ecosystem change. To address this, deer population control through hunting has been promoted. However, while deer meat is typically consumed, uses for other parts are still at the exploration phase. In contrast, various body parts of deer, such as antlers, bones, tails and sinews have been used in traditional Chinese medicine since ancient times. To increase the usefulness of sika deer as health promoting resources, the research group evaluated the in vitro antioxidant activity of the gelatins from antlers, skins and bones of sika deer and compared with those from donkey, bovine, pig and fish.