Effectiveness of enzymatic hydrolysis for reducing the allergenic potential of legume by-products

Ensuring compliance: A review of EU regulations and standards for incorporating legume and legume by-product proteins in food formulations

Consumers are increasingly seeking nutritionally enhanced products, unique flavours and packaging, and ethically sourced ingredients. Significant technological advancements and investments in product innovation by manufacturers are driving the overall market growth for plant-based protein alternatives. In Europe, this growth is largely due to the rising adoption of veganism and the flexitarian trend. During vegetable processing, certain activities generate large amounts of by-products, many of which are discarded by manufacturers. These legumes and their by-products contain substantial amounts of protein. Manufacturers using legumes and their by-products-based proteins in food formulations must comply with European Union (EU) regulations and standards to obtain market approval. For this study, the regulatory framework and novel food dossier application process were sourced from the official EU website (Europa), while relevant standards were obtained from the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and European Committee for Standardisation (CEN)-European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) website. This review provides an overview of protein extraction from legumes and their by-products, followed by an analysis of the legal requirements for processing, production, and commercialisation of these extracted proteins in food formulations. It addresses standardisation and relevant standards in areas such as characterisation and safety. Furthermore, the novel food dossier application process and the EU requirements for legume proteins, if considered novel in the EU, are discussed. This review aims to serve as a guide for manufacturers already using, or considering the use of, legume proteins in food formulations within the EU, providing essential insights for gaining market acceptance and regulatory approval for these ingredients, whether existing or novel. Further research is needed to explore the incorporation of proteins extracted from legume by-products into food formulations.

Exploitation of bones-rich poultry by-products to produce protein hydrolysates: optimization of hydrolysis parameters and chemical characterization

A significant quantity of bone-rich poultry by-products must be disposed of by poultry processors. These products still contain a significant amount of nutritionally valuable animal proteins. In the present work, a hydrolysis protocol was optimized to recover the protein fraction of bone-rich poultry by-products while simultaneously minimizing the amount of water required for hydrolysis (thus reducing drying costs) and recycling the hydrolytic broth up to 3 times, to reduce the cost of the proteolytic enzyme. The final hydrolysis conditions involved the use of (protease from B. licheniformis, ≥2.4 U/g; 0.5 V/w of raw material) and a hydrolysis time of 2 h at 65°C. The protein hydrolysate obtained has a high protein content (79-86%), a good amino acid profile (chemical amino acid score equal to 0.7-0.8) and good gastric digestibility (about 30% of peptide bonds are already hydrolyzed before digestion). This supports its use as an ingredient in food, pet food or animal feed formulations.

Generation, Characterisation and Identification of Bioactive Peptides from Mesopelagic Fish Protein Hydrolysates Using In Silico and In Vitro Approaches

This study generated bioactive hydrolysates using the enzyme Alcalase and autolysis from mesopelagic fish, including Maurolicus muelleri and Benthosema glaciale. Generated hydrolysates were investigated for their bioactivities using in vitro bioassays, and bioactive peptides were identified using mass spectrometry in active hydrolysates with cyclooxygenase, dipeptidyl peptidase IV and antioxidant activities. In silico analysis was employed to rank identified peptide sequences in terms of overall bioactivity using programmes including Peptide Ranker, PrepAIP, Umami-MRNN and AntiDMPpred. Seven peptides predicted to have anti-inflammatory, anti-type 2 diabetes or Umami potential using in silico strategies were chemically synthesised, and their anti-inflammatory activities were confirmed using in vitro bioassays with COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. The peptide QCPLHRPWAL inhibited COX-1 and COX-2 by 82.90% (+/-0.54) and 53.84%, respectively, and had a selectivity index greater than 10. This peptide warrants further research as a novel anti-inflammatory/pain relief peptide. Other peptides with DPP-IV inhibitory and Umami flavours were identified. These offer potential for use as functional foods or topical agents to prevent pain and inflammation.

Conformation-Activity Mechanism of Alcalase Hydrolysis for Reducing In Vitro Allergenicity of Instant Soy Milk Powder

Effective reduction of the allergenicity of instant soy milk powder (ISMP) is practically valuable for expanding its applications. This study optimized the enzymolysis technology of ISMP using single-factor experiments and response surface methodology, combined serological analysis, cellular immunological models, bioinformatics tools, and multiple spectroscopy techniques to investigate the effects of alcalase hydrolysis on allergenicity, spatial conformation, and linear epitopes of ISMP. Under the optimal process, special IgE and IgG1 binding abilities and allergenic activity to induce cell degranulation of alcalase-hydrolyzed ISMP were reduced by (64.72 ± 1.76)%, (56.79 ± 3.72)%, and (73.3 ± 1.19)%, respectively (P < 0.05). Moreover, the spatial conformation of instant soy milk powder hydrolysates (ISMPH) changed, including decreased surface hydrophobicity, a weaker peak of amide II band, lower contents of α-helix and β-sheet, and an enhanced content of random coil. Furthermore, the linear epitopes of major soy allergens, 9 from glycinin and 13 from β-conglycinin, could be directionally disrupted by alcalase hydrolysis. Overall, the structure-activity mechanism of alcalase hydrolysis to reduce ISMP allergenicity in vitro was preliminarily clarified. It provided a new research direction for the breakthrough in the desensitization of ISMP and a theoretical basis for revealing the potential mechanism of alcalase enzymolysis to reduce the allergenicity of ISMP.

Molecular characterization and allergenicity assessment of different samples of Mung Bean

Legumes represent a promising nutritional alternative source of proteins to meat and dairy products. Additionally, Novel Foods (Regulation EU 2015/2283) can help meet the rising protein demand. However, despite their benefits, emerging allergenicity risks must be considered. The aim of this work is the molecular characterization of the Novel Food Mung bean protein isolate for allergenicity prediction with High Resolution Mass Spectrometry analysis. The assessment of the allergenicity was evaluated in silico by comparing protein sequences of the Novel Food with other known legume allergens, using bioinformatic databases. The results highlighted similarity higher than 60 % of the protein structure of Mung bean with two known allergens of soybean and pea. Furthermore, enzymatic hydrolysis effects on allergenic potential was evaluated by immunoblotting analysis using sera of patients allergic to legumes. The protein hydrolysates obtained showed a high nutritional quality and a reduced allergenic potential, making them suitable for hypoallergenic food formulations.