peroxyl radicals also re-ported the scission of supercoiled DNA strand to nicked circular from by free redicals. The rate of nicking correlated with the iron content and was strogly inhibited by radical scavengers and chelators. Oxidative stress in cells caused by ROS such as hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals generally leads to DNA damage, which is implicated in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis,among other path- ological processes. Therefore,gelatin hydrolysates might be used as functional food ingredients and antimutagenic agents.