Bioactive peptides from meat: Current status on production, biological activity, safety, and regulatory framework

Antioxidant and Renin Inhibitory Activities of Peptides from Food Proteins on Hypertension: A Review

Hypertension is a condition induced by oxidative stress causing an alteration in the endothelium, which increases the risk of suffering from other degenerative diseases. This review compiles the findings on peptides from food proteins with antioxidant and antihypertensive activities. Antihypertensive peptides are mainly focused on renin inhibition. Peptides containing hydrophobic amino acids have antioxidant and renin inhibitory activities, as reported by studies on the biological activity of peptides from various food sources evaluated separately and simultaneously. Peptides from food sources can present multiple biological activities. Moreover, antioxidant peptides have the potential to be evaluated against renin, offering an alternative for hypertension therapy without causing adverse side effects.

Sustainable management of food waste; pre-treatment strategies, techno-economic assessment, bibliometric analysis, and potential utilizations: A systematic review

Food waste (FW) contains many nutritional components such as proteins, lipids, fats, polysaccharides, carbohydrates, and metal ions, which can be reused in some processes to produce value-added products. Furthermore, FW can be converted into biogas, biohydrogen, and biodiesel, and this type of green energy can be used as an alternative to nonrenewable fuel and reduce reliance on fossil fuel sources. It has been demonstrated in many reports that at the laboratory scale production of biochemicals using FW is as good as pure carbon sources. The goal of this paper is to review approaches used globally to promote turning FW into useable products and green energy. In this context, the present review article highlights deeply in a transdisciplinary manner the sources, types, impacts, characteristics, pre-treatment strategies, and potential management of FW into value-added products. We find that FW could be upcycled into different valuable products such as eco-friendly green fuels, organic acids, bioplastics, enzymes, fertilizers, char, and single-cell protein, after the suitable pre-treatment method. The results confirmed the technical feasibility of all the reviewed transformation processes of FW. Furthermore, life cycle and techno-economic assessment studies regarding the socio-economic, environmental, and engineering aspects of FW management are discussed. The reviewed articles showed that energy recovery from FW in various forms is economically feasible.

Potential of Food Protein-Derived Bioactive Peptides against Sarcopenia: A Comprehensive Review

Sarcopenia is an age-related progressive muscle disorder characterized by accelerated loss of muscle mass, strength, and function, which are important causes of physiological dysfunctions in the elderly. At present, the main alleviating method includes protein supplements to stimulate synthesis of muscle proteins. Food protein-derived peptides containing abundant branched-chain amino acids have a remarkable effect on the improvement of sarcopenia. Understanding the underlying molecular mechanism and clarifying the structure-activity relationship is essential for the mitigation of sarcopenia. This present review recaps the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of sarcopenia, which facilitates a comprehensive understanding of sarcopenia. Moreover, the latest research progress on food-derived antisarcopenic peptides is reviewed, including their antisarcopenic activity, molecular mechanism as well as structural characteristics. Food-derived bioactive peptides can indeed alleviate/mitigate sarcopenia. These antisarcopenic peptides play a pivotal role mainly by activating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR and MAPK pathways and inhibiting the ubiquitin-proteasome system and AMPK pathway, thus promoting the synthesis of muscle proteins and inhibiting their degradation. Antisarcopenic peptides alleviate sarcopenia via specific peptides, which may be absorbed into the circulation and exhibit their bioactivity in intact forms. The present review provides a theoretical reference for mitigation and prevention of sarcopenia by food protein-derived bioactive peptides.

The Effects of Peanut Oligopeptides on Exercise-Induced Fatigue in Mice and Its Underlying Mechanism

The aim of this study was to clarify the anti-fatigue effect of peanut oligopeptides (POPs) in mice and to investigate its possible underlying mechanism. A total of 150 male ICR mice were randomly assigned into five groups: control, whey protein (0.50 g/kg·bw), and three peanut peptide groups (0.25, 0.50, and 1.00 g/kg·bw). All the mice were treated with intra-gastric administration for 30 days. Following the intervention, a weight-loaded swimming test, blood lactate concentration, glycogen content, the activities of antioxidant factors and energy metabolism enzymes, and the function of mitochondria in the skeletal muscle were examined. The results show that POP intervention significantly prolonged the exhaustive swimming time, decreased blood lactate concentration levels, regulated the process of energy metabolism, and increased the level of antioxidant enzymes, muscle glycogen, and expressions of mtTFA and NRF-1 in the mitochondria of the gastrocnemius muscle. The results suggest that POPs produce an anti-fatigue effect in the animals, and they may exert this effect through the mechanism of improving the animals’ antioxidant capacity to reduce oxidative damage levels and regulating the process of energy metabolism.

Identification and In Silico Simulation on Inhibitory Platelet-Activating Factor Acetyl Hydrolase Peptides from Dry-Cured Pork Coppa

The unique processing technology of dry-cured meat products leads to strong proteolysis, which produces numerous peptides. The purpose of this investigation was the systematic isolation, purification, and identification of potentially cardioprotective bioactive peptides from dry-cured pork coppa during processing. According to the results of anti-platelet-activating factor acetyl hydrolase activity and radical scavenging ability in vitro, the inhibitory effect of M1F2 in purified fractions on cardiovascular inflammation was higher than that of M2F2. The peptide of M1F2 was identified by nano-liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 30 peptides were identified. Based on bioinformatics methods, including in silico analysis and molecular docking, LTDKPFL, VEAPPAKVP, KVPVPAPK, IPVPKK, and PIKRSP were identified as the most promising potential platelet-activating factor acetyl hydrolase inhibitory peptides. Overall, bioactive peptides produced during dry-cured pork coppa processing demonstrate positive effects on human health.

Effects of fungal based bioactive compounds on human health: Review paper

Since the first years of history, microbial fermentation products such as bread, wine, yogurt and vinegar have always been noteworthy regarding their nutritional and health effects. Similarly, mushrooms have been a valuable food product in point of both nutrition and medicine due to their rich chemical components. Alternatively, filamentous fungi, which can be easier to produce, play an active role in the synthesis of some bioactive compounds, which are also important for health, as well as being rich in protein content. Therefore, this review presents some important bioactive compounds (bioactive peptides, chitin/chitosan, β-glucan, gamma-aminobutyric acid, L-carnitine, ergosterol and fructooligosaccharides) synthesized by fungal strains and their health benefits. In addition, potential probiotic- and prebiotic fungi were researched to determine their effects on gut microbiota. The current uses of fungal based bioactive compounds for cancer treatment were also discussed. The use of fungal strains in the food industry, especially to develop innovative food production, has been seen as promising microorganisms in obtaining healthy and nutritious food.