Sake lees is unfiltered by the press after the formation of the lees and is a byproduct during the fermentation process of sake. Sake lees contains carbohydrate, fatty acids, minerals, plant-derived peptides, and amino acids, especially rich in the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) such as leucine, isoleucine and valine, and so on. Sake lees has been used widely in the agricultural industry and livestock feed. In light of the development of agricultural biotechnology in recent years, researchers or biotech companies look for in evaluating sake lees hydrolysate or its derivatives could be used for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries. According the literature report on cell-free tube assay, in vitro or in vivo studies, sake lees has been demonstrated to be multi-functional agents for skin-whitening, antioxidation, reducing tricylglycerides, scavenging free radicals and inhibiting angiotensin converting enzyme activity etc. Our recent study also found that sake lees hydrolysate could protect against physical fatigue and improves exercise performance in vivo. The aim of the present review article is to introduce the nutritional characteristics and potential biological functions of sake lees hydrolysate for people and industrial applications.