Abstract: With the annual increase of diabetes patients all around the world, traditional treatment methods are encountering challenges. Research has found that dietary intervention is an effective way of adjuvant treatment of diabetes. Proteins in food can produce various bioactive peptides after enzymatic hydrolysis. Among them, dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) inhibitory peptides, which are closely related to the hypoglycemic effect have been identified in enzymatic hydrolysis of fish and other foods. Marine organism is rich in species and they are important resources for preparation of functional foods. In this manuscript, the hypoglycemic mechanism of food-derived DPP-IV inhibitory peptides and the research progress of DPP-IV inhibitory peptides derived from marine organism were reviewed, with a purpose to provide a reference for the development of functional foods based on DPP-IV inhibitory peptides.