Formation of Stable Supramolecular Structure with β-Lactoglobulin-Derived Self-Assembling Peptide f1-8 and Bovine Micellar Caseins

Preparation, design, identification and application of self-assembly peptides from seafood: A review

Hydrogels formed by self-assembling peptides with low toxicity and high biocompatibility have been widely used in food and biomedical fields. Seafood contains rich protein resources and is also one of the important sources of natural bioactive peptides. The self-assembled peptides in seafood have good functional activity and are very beneficial to human health. In this review, the sequence of seafood self-assembly peptide was introduced, and the preparation, screening, identification and characterization. The rule of self-assembled peptides was elucidated from amino acid sequence composition, amino acid properties (hydrophilic, hydrophobic and electric), secondary structure, interaction and peptide properties (hydrophilic and hydrophobic). It was introduced that the application of hydrogels formed by self-assembled peptides, which lays a theoretical foundation for the development of seafood self-assembled peptides in functional foods and the application of biological materials.

Self-Assembled Food Peptides: Recent Advances and Perspectives in Food and Health Applications

Self-assembling peptides are rapidly gaining attention as novel biomaterials for food and biomedical applications. Peptides self-assemble when triggered by physical or chemical factors due to their versatile physicochemical characteristics. Peptide self-assembly, when combined with the health-promoting bioactivity of peptides, can also result in a plethora of biofunctionalities of the biomaterials. This perspective highlights current developments in the use of food-derived self-assembling peptides as biomaterials, bioactive nutraceuticals, and potential dual functioning bioactive biomaterials. Also discussed are the challenges and opportunities in the use of self-assembling bioactive peptides in designing biocompatible, biostable, and bioavailable multipurpose biomaterials.

Precursor template-induced egg white-derived peptides self-assembly for the enhancement of curcumin: Structure, environmental stability, and bioavailability

Natural multicomponent peptides with abundant bioactivity, varied sizes, and tunable interaction potential are available for rational designing novel self-assembled delivery carriers. Herein, we exploited zein-hyaluronic acid nanoparticles (Z-HA NPs) with a predetermined ordered structure as precursor templates to induce the self-assembly of egg white-derived peptides (EWDP) to generate stable spherical architectures for the enhancement of curcumin (Cur). The resulting Z-EWDP-HA NPs encapsulated hydrophobic Cur through robust hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions with high encapsulation efficiency (97.38% at pH 7.0). The NPs presented superior Cur aqueous solubility, redispersibility, and photothermal stability. More importantly, the self-assembled EWDP could exert synergistic antioxidant activity with Cur and enhance the bioaccessibility of Cur. Meanwhile, the favorable biocompatibility and membrane affinity of EWDP further prolonged residence and time-controlled release feature of Cur in the small intestine. Precursor template-induced multicomponent peptides' self-assembly provides an efficient and controllable strategy for co-enhanced bioactivity and self-assembly capacity of peptides, which could dramatically broaden the functionalization of multicomponent peptides hydrolyzed from natural food proteins.

A Comprehensive Review of Self-Assembled Food Protein-Derived Multicomponent Peptides: From Forming Mechanism and Structural Diversity to Applications

Food protein-derived multicomponent peptides (FPDMPs) are a natural blend of numerous peptides with various bioactivities and multiple active sites that can assume several energetically favorable conformations in solutions. The remarkable structural characteristics and functional attributes of FPDMPs make them promising codelivery carriers that can coassemble with different bioactive ingredients to induce multidimensional structures, such as fibrils, nanotubes, and nanospheres, thereby producing specific health benefits. This review offers a prospective analysis of FPDMPs-based self-assembly nanostructures, focusing on the mechanism of formation of self-assembled FPDMPs, the internal and external stimuli affecting peptide self-assembly, and their potential applications. In particular, we introduce the exciting prospect of constructing functional materials through precursor template-induced self-assembly of FPDMPs, which combine the bioactivity and self-assembly capacity of peptides and could dramatically broaden the functional utility of peptide-based materials.

Industrial Application of Protein Hydrolysates in Food

Protein hydrolysates, which may be produced by the protein in the middle of the process or added as an ingredient, are part of the food formula. In food, protein hydrolysates are found in many forms, which can regulate the texture and functionality of food, including emulsifying properties, foaming properties, and gelation. Therefore, the relationship between the physicochemical and structural characteristics of protein hydrolysates and their functional characteristics is of significant importance. In recent years, researchers have conducted many studies on the role of protein hydrolysates in food processing. This Review explains the relationship between the structure and function of protein hydrolysates, and their interaction with the main ingredients of food, to provide reference for their development and further research.

Formulation of infant formula with different casein fractions and their effects on physical properties and digestion characteristics

This study investigated whether casein (CN) fractions exhibit better physical properties and digestibility than native casein micelles presently used in the production of infant formula. The structural performance of native casein micelles (micellar casein concentrates, MCC), β-CN, κ-CN and β + κ-CN were explored, and physical properties and digestion characteristics (i.e., digestibility, particle size, zeta potential and microscopic morphology) of the infant formula with MCC, β-CN, κ-CN or β + κ-CN were determined to elucidate the applicability of these casein types in infant formula. Results indicated that the β + κ-CN infant formula solution had the largest particle size with the most unstable potential. Moreover, both β-CN and κ-CN infant formula showed high solubility, while κ-CN displayed the lowest foaming capacity and high foaming stability. β-CN infant formula expressed an effective digestibility property, however, it possessed the largest particle size after gastrointestinal digestion. Therefore, β-CN fraction infant formula showed better digestibility than casein infant formula, and thus this work provides a theoretical basis for the development of infant formula.

Occurrence of Peptide-Peptide Interactions during the Purification of Self-Assembling Peptide f1-8 from a β-Lactoglobulin Tryptic Hydrolysate

Self-assembling peptides have gained attention because of their nanotechnological applications. Previous work demonstrated that the self-assembling peptide f1-8 (Pf1-8) that is generated from the tryptic hydrolysis of β-lactoglobulin can form a hydrogel after several purification steps, including membrane filtration and consecutive washes. This study evaluates the impact of each processing step on peptide profile, purity, and gelation capacity of each fraction to understand the purification process of Pf1-8 and the peptide-peptide interactions involved. We showed that peptide-peptide interactions mainly occurred through electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, influencing the fraction compositions. Indeed, the purity of Pf1-8 did not correlate with the number of wash steps. In addition to Pf1-8, two other hydrophobic peptides were identified, peptide f15-20, and peptide f41-60. The gelation observed could be induced either through peptide-peptide interactions or through self-assembling, both being driven by non-covalent bond and more specifically hydrophobic interactions.