Soybean sauce fermented with soybean and wheat, has been a major condiment of Korean diets from centuries ago. Melanoidin, a brown pigment generally found in various food systems, is a final product produced in amino-carbonyl reaction during soybean sauce processing. Antioxidative activities of soybean sauce and melanoidin were investigated in vitro system using linoleic acid emulsion. Soybean sauce and glucose-lysine model melanoidin showed the stronger antioxidative effect than control by ferric thiocyanate and conjugated diene assays. In addition, DPPH radical scavenging effect of soybean sauce was higher than melanoidin, which was ascribed to soluble peptide and low molecular protein existing in soybean sauce. To ascertain antioxidative effect of dietary soybean sauce and melanoidin in vivo, the male Wister rats were fed 10% soybean sauce or 10% glucose-lysine model melanoidin with corn oil or fish oil for 5 weeks. Fatty acid compositions in liver and plasma were influenced by oil source. Therefore, EPA and DHA contents of fish oil group were higher than those of corn oil group. When the inhibitory effect of soybean sauce and melanoidin on lipid peroxidation using TBARS methods was measured, fish oil group (FC) showed higher malondialdehyde (MDA) content than corn oil group (CC). However, supplementation of soybean sauce and melanoidin to fish oil group attenuated MDA formation. In the levels of phosphatidyl choline hydroperoxide (PCOOH) in liver and plasma by CL (chemiluminescence)-HPLC method, PCOOH in FC group was significantly higher than that of CC group both in liver and plasma. Supplementation of soybean sauce to fish oil groups significantly inhibited the formation of PCOOH in plasma and liver, while melanoidin suppressed hepatic PCOOH formation. Based on these results, it can be suggested that soybean sauce possesses stronger antioxidative potential than melanoidin.