Abstract: Separation of antioxidant peptides from enzymatic hydrolysates of Whitmania pigra and their antioxidation activity were studied. Ratio of solid to liquid， enzyme dose， temperature and hydrolysis time were selected as factors to optimize the hydrolysis parameters with four factors and three levels of the orthogonal experiment. Antioxidant peptides were separated and purified from the crude enzymatic hydrolysates by CM Sepharose Fast Flow and Sephadex G\|25 gel chromatography. The antioxidant capability of each component and distribution of molecular weight were determined. Results showed the optimum condition for the enzymatic hydrolysis was as follows: ratio of solid to liquid 1∶4， enzyme dose 7 500 U·g-1， temperature 40℃， time 4 h and primary pH value 85. The scavenging effects of antioxidant capability of each component on hydroxyl radical and ABTS radical were obvious and stronger than that of ascorbic acid. Whereas， their scavenging effects on superoxide anion radical were weaker than that of ascorbic acid. Moreover， the results indicated that molecular weight of these antioxidant peptides was mainly in the range of 13096-33034 u.

Key words: Whitmania pigra Whitman, oligopeptides, antioxidant activity