The antioxidant activity and food protection effect of bioactive polypeptides from bovine hair were investigated. In various in vitro tests, polypeptides showed a strong reducing power and a remarkable antioxidant capability to scavenge free radicals (ABTS, superoxide and hydroxyl radicals). Moreover, polypeptides also exhibited a significant food protection effect to inhibit the oxidation of edible oil by controlling the peroxide value (POV). Furthermore, by using gel filtration chromatography (GFC), high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), amino acid analysis and atomic force microscopy (AFM), an antioxidant polypeptide (APB) was purified and characterized with a molecular weight of 18.7 KDa in the form of spherical lumps, which was composed of 17 kinds of amino acids and contained sulfydryl group. Our results suggested that the antioxidant polypeptide from bovine hair could be a new potential source for preparing natural antioxidant applied in oil or oil-rich food. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.