<p>Egg white proteins are susceptible to glycation and degradation reactions during alkaline pickling, and it has been shown that both glycated proteins and hydrolyzed peptides will affect a series of functional activities. In this study, the egg white antioxidant activity was investigated during the a prolonged alkaline pickling process. A positive correlation between the content of glycated proteins and antioxidant activities was demonstrated. Also, a peptidomic analysis was performed to compare the difference in proteolytic cleavage sites between the prolonged alkali pickled egg white and the traditional preserved egg white. These results indicated that the glycation process impeded the intrinsic degradation process of proteins by increasing the spatial site resistance. Thus, it was speculated that the alkali induced protein glycations played a pivotal role in providing antioxidant activity.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>