MBCRC Partners: NSW Department of Primary Industries, University of the Sunshine Coast and Flinders University
Sydney rock oysters (SRO) are a unique Australian marine bioresource that contain not only nutritious compounds (zinc, selenium, and calcitriol, omega-3, D-aspartic acid etc.), but unique antimicrobial peptides, which are not present in Pacific oysters.
These antimicrobial peptides show activity against pathogenic species such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus (a type of bacteria found in marine, coastal and tidal waters) that affects both oyster culture and human health.
Additionally, oysters are reported widely to contain properties that benefit human sexuality and reproductive health. Driven by the great potential of developing health-related marine bioproducts from this unique Australian marine bioresource, this project aims to characterise a broad range of SRO bioactive natural products through purification and assessment of their bioactivity relevant to nutrition and health, and then provide evidence for development of functional food products with international marketing potential for their nutritional and/or health-beneficial properties.
