Collagen-Based Bioactive Bromelain Hydrolysate from Salt-Cured Cod Skin

Peptides with biological and technofunctional properties produced by bromelain hydrolysis of proteins from different sources: A review

Bromelains are cysteine peptidases with endopeptidase action (a subfamily of papains), obtained from different parts of vegetable belonging to the Bromeliaceae family. They have some intrinsic medical activity, but this review is focused on their application (individually or mixed with other proteases) to produce bioactive peptides. When compared to other proteases, perhaps due to the fact that they are commercialized as an extract containing several proteases, the hydrolysates produced by this enzyme tends to have higher bioactivities than other common proteases. The peptides and the intensity of their final properties depend on the substrate protein and reaction conditions, being the degree of hydrolysis a determining parameter (but not always positive or negative). The produced peptides may have diverse activities such as antioxidant, antitumoral, antihypertensive or antimicrobial ones, among others or they may be utilized to improve the organoleptic properties of foods and feeds. Evolution of the use of this enzyme in this application is proposed to be based on a more intense direct application of Bromeliaceae extract, without the cost associated to enzyme purification, and the use of immobilized biocatalysts of the enzyme by simplifying the enzyme recovery and reuse, and also making the sequential hydrolysis using diverse proteases possible.

Bromelain: a review of its mechanisms, pharmacological effects and potential applications

The utilization of plant-derived supplements for disease prevention and treatment has long been recognized because of their remarkable potential. Ananas comosus, commonly known as pineapple, produces a group of enzymes called bromelain, which contains sulfhydryl moieties. Recent studies have shown that bromelain exhibits a wide range of activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, and anti-rheumatic properties. These properties make bromelain a promising drug candidate for the treatment of various diseases. The anti-inflammatory activity of bromelain has been shown to be useful in treating inflammatory conditions such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma, whereas the anti-cancer activity of bromelain is via induction of apoptosis, inhibition of angiogenesis, and enhancement of the body's immune response. The anti-diabetic property of bromelain is owing to the improvement in glucose metabolism and reduction in insulin resistance. The therapeutic potential of bromelain has been investigated in numerous preclinical and clinical studies and a number of patents have been granted to date. Various formulations and delivery systems are being developed in order to improve the efficacy and safety of this molecule, including the microencapsulated form to treat oral inflammatory conditions and liposomal formulations to treat cancer. The development of novel drug delivery systems and formulations has further ameliorated the therapeutic potential of bromelain by improving its bioavailability and stability, while reducing the side effects. This review intends to discuss various properties and therapeutic applications of bromelain, along with its possible mechanism of action in treating various diseases. Recent patents and clinical trials concerning bromelain have also been covered.

Exploring Bioactivities and Peptide Content of Body Mucus from the Lusitanian Toadfish Halobatrachus didactylus

Identifying bioactive molecules from marine organisms is still vastly understudied. Fish remain an untapped source of bioactive molecules, even when considering species whose toxicity to other fish species has been noticed before. We assessed potential applications of crude body mucus of the Lusitanian toadfish (Halobratachus didactylus) and characterized its peptide fraction composition. Mucus samples from three individuals (two wild and one captive) revealed potential antioxidant, antihypertensive, and antimicrobial activities. For antioxidant activity, the best results of 2371 ± 97 µmol Trolox Equivalent/g protein for ORAC and 154 ± 6 µmol Trolox Equivalent/g protein for ABTS were obtained. For antihypertensive activity, the relevant inhibitory activity of ACE resulted in IC50 of 60 ± 7 µg protein/mL. Antimicrobial activity was also identified against the pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes. The peptide profile of the crude body mucus was obtained through size exclusion chromatography, with a conspicuous peak at ca. 800 Da. LC-MS/MS allowed the detection of the most probable peptide sequences of this dominant peptide. This is the first study where the bioactive potential of mucus from the Lusitanian toadfish is demonstrated. Peptides with such properties can be applied in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Bioactivity and Bioaccessibility of Bioactive Compounds in Gastrointestinal Digestion of Tomato Bagasse Extracts

A nutrient-rich diet is a key to improving the chemical signals, such as antioxidants, which modulate pathogens’ resistance in the gut and prevent diseases. A current industrial problem is the generation of undervalued by-products, such as tomato bagasse, which are rich in bioactive compounds and of commercial interest (carotenoids and phenolic compounds). This work analyzed the effect of gastrointestinal digestion on the bioactivity and bioaccessibility of carotenoids and phenolic compounds from tomato bagasse extracts. Thus, the extraction by ohmic heating (OH) technology was compared with conventional (organic solvents). The results showed that the main phenolic compounds identified by UPLC-qTOF-MS were p-coumaric acid, naringenin, and luteolin. A higher recovery index for total phenolic compounds throughout the gastrointestinal digestion was observed for OH while for carotenoids, a strong reduction after stomach conditions was observed for both extracts. Furthermore, colon-available fraction exhibited a prebiotic effect upon different Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, but a strain-dependent and more accentuated effect on OH. Thus, the extraction technology highly influenced bioaccessibility, with OH demonstrating a positive impact on the recovery of bioactive compounds and related health benefits, such as antioxidant, anti-hypertensive, prebiotic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Of these properties, the last is demonstrated here for the first time.

Production of Dual Inhibitory Hydrolysate by Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Squid Processing By-product

Squid processing by-product contains unutilized abundant proteins. In this study, 6 proteases (pepsin, protamex, trypsin, neutral protease, alkaline protease, and papain) were firstly employed to hydrolyze the squid processing by-product protein. The neutral protease-digested hydrolysate was found to have the most promising ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitory activity. Based on Box-Behnken design, the optimal hydrolysis process was determined to be: 52.4 ℃ of temperature, 5.7 h of time, pH 7.1, and 8151 U/g of enzyme. Under these conditions, the ACE inhibition rate and polypeptide content of the hydrolysate were 84.26% and 229.09 mg/g, respectively. Subsequently, ultrafiltration was performed, and the ACE and renin inhibitory activities of the filtrate (< 1 kDa) were the highest, reaching 87.48 ± 1.76% and 69.72 ± 1.16%, with IC₅₀ values of 1.34 ± 0.12 mg/mL and 1.47 ± 0.06 mg/mL, respectively. However, these activities decreased to 35.15 ± 1.31% and 43.17% ± 1.42%, respectively, after digestion by simulated gastrointestinal juice. Nevertheless, this is the first report representing the neutral protease-digested hydrolysate of squid processing by-product as a potential source of both ACE and renin inhibitors.

Screening of Novel Bioactive Peptides from Goat Casein: In Silico to In Vitro Validation

Food-derived bioactive peptides are of great interest to science and industry due to evolving drivers of food product innovation, including health and wellness. This study aims to draw attention through a critical study on how bioinformatics analysis is employed in the identification of bioactive peptides in the laboratory. An in silico analysis (PeptideRanker, BIOPEP, AHTpin, and mAHTPred) of a list of peptides from goat casein hydrolysate was performed to predict which sequences could potentially be bioactive. To validate the predictions, the in vitro antihypertensive potential of the five peptides with the highest potential was first measured. Then, for three of these, gastrointestinal digestion was simulated in vitro, followed by the analysis of the resulting ACE inhibitory activity as well as antioxidant capacity. We thus observed that the use of new computational biology technologies to predict peptide sequences is an important research tool, but they should not be used alone and complementarity with various in vitro and in vivo assays is essential.

The Bioactivity Prediction of Peptides from Tuna Skin Collagen Using Integrated Method Combining In Vitro and In Silico

The hydrolysates and peptide fractions of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) skin collagen have been successfully studied. The hydrolysates (HPA, HPN, HPS, HBA, HBN, HBS) were the result of the hydrolysis of collagen using alcalase, neutrase, and savinase. The peptide fractions (PPA, PPN, PPS, PBA, PBN, PBS) were the fractions obtained following ultrafiltration of the hydrolysates. The antioxidant activities of the hydrolysates and peptide fractions were studied using the DPPH method. The effects of collagen types, enzymes, and molecular sizes on the antioxidant activities were analyzed using profile plots analysis. The amino acid sequences of the peptides in the fraction with the highest antioxidant activity were analyzed using LC-MS/MS. Finally, their bioactivity and characteristics were studied using in silico analysis. The hydrolysates and peptide fractions provided antioxidant activity (6.17-135.40 µmol AAE/g protein). The lower molecular weight fraction had higher antioxidant activity. Collagen from pepsin treatment produced higher activity than that of bromelain treatment. The fraction from collagen hydrolysates by savinase treatment had the highest activity compared to neutrase and alcalase treatments. The peptides in the PBN and PPS fractions of <3 kDa had antidiabetic, antihypertensive and antioxidant activities. In conclusion, they have the potential to be used in food and health applications.