LAUSR

New food products that offer greater nutritional content and possible health benefits to consumers are a global trend (Aryee & Boye, 2015). In addition, clean label products (that is, virtually free of artificial additives) are demanded and preferred by consumers (Asioli et al., 2017). Hence, food science has focused on research into natural compounds that can be substituted for food additives and have potential against the development of diseases. Antioxidant activity has been widely regarded as a potential factor that helps prevent the development of chronic degenerative illnesses mediated by free-radical production (Vodnar et al., 2017). Moreover, protection from lipid oxidation is a critical factor in the quality of many foods, mainly those rich in unsaturated lipids (Shahidi & Zhong, 2015). Oxidative reactions lead to a change of colour, odour, and flavour of foods products, causing economic burden (Aziz & Karboune, 2018). Hence, different preservatives have been used to prevent quality deterioration during processing and storage of foodstuffs. Although synthetic antioxidants are highly effective, there is uncertainty about their negative impact on human health (Kumar et al., 2017). Thus, the search for compounds that can act as antioxidants has led research into the depths of the ocean, due to their potential to be used as preventive molecules against free radicals and oxidative reactions (Shahidi, 2006). Ommochromes, a group of pigments found on the skin of cephalopods, have been evaluated as a source of useful nutraceuticals in the food industry. Ommochrome compounds can act as electron donors and stabilise free radicals (Romero & Martínez, 2015). In previous studies, the antioxidant activity of ommochromes has been proven in both food models and against free radicals (Aubourg et al., 2016; Ezquerra-Brauer et al., 2016, 2017; Chan-Higuera et al., 2019a). Recently, the mutagenic activity of ommochromes has been evaluated as a form of toxicity in vitro (Ezquerra-Brauer et al., 2017; Chan-Higuera et al., 2019b).