In Vitro Production and Identification of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitory Peptides Derived from Distilled Spent Grain Prolamin Isolate

Alkali-assisted extraction, characterization and encapsulation functionality of enzymatic hydrolysis-resistant prolamin from distilled spirit spent grain

Curcumin is a natural lipophilic polyphenol that exhibits significant various biological properties such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties following oral administration. However, its uses have shown limitations concerning aqueous solubility, bioavailability and biodegradability that could be improved by prolamin-based nanoparticle. In this study, curcumin was encapsulated into prolamin from sorghum (SOP) and wheat (WHP) and distilled spirit spent grain (DSSGP), which was obtained after microbial proteolysis of the former two cereal grains. All the three prolamins showed clear variation of protein profiles and microstructure as confirmed by electrophoresis analysis, disulfide bond determination and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). For curcumin-loaded nanospheres (NPs) fabrication, three prolamin-based NPs shared features of spherical shape, uniform particle size, and smooth surface. The average size ranged from 122 to 193 nm depending on the prolamin variety and curcumin loading. In the experiments in vitro, curcumin showed significantly improved UV/thermal stability. Furthermore, DSSGP was more resistant to enzymatic digestion in vitro, hence achieving the controlled release of curcumin in gastrointestinal tract. Collectively, the results indicated the improved bioavailability and biodegradability of curcumin encapsulated by DSSGP, which would be an innovative potential encapsulant for effective protection and targeted delivery of hydrophobic compounds.

Chinese Baijiu and Whisky: Research Reservoirs for Flavor and Functional Food

Baijiu is a traditional spirit with high reputation in the Chinese community, and whisky, on the other hand, is a renowned spirit in Western culture, with both contributing a major proportion to the consumption and revenue in the global spirit market. Interestingly, starting with similar raw materials, such as grains, diverse production methods lead to different organoleptic profiles. In addition, such enormous attention they attract renders them as a crucial part in food and the related industry. Therefore, great efforts are made in improving product quality and optimizing production processes, such as flavor enhancement, facility development, and deep utilization of byproducts. Given the huge impacts and great involvements of these spirits in the general food industry, research focusing on either spirit is of referential significance for other relevant fields. With the aim of facilitating such collaboration, this review discusses the current research status, in a comparative manner, of both spirits in respect to key production processes-oriented sensory and flavor analysis, deep utilization of byproducts, and spirit-derived functional food investigations. Finally, the internal correlations based on the abovementioned criteria are identified, with research prospects proposed.

In-Silico Analysis and Antidiabetic Effect of α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Peptides from Lupin Protein Hydrolysate: Enzyme-Peptide Interaction Study Using Molecular Docking Approach

The use of natural ingredients for managing diabetes is becoming more popular in recent times due to the several adverse effects associated with synthetic antidiabetic medications. In this study, we investigated the in vitro antidiabetic potential (through inhibition of α-glucosidase (AG) and α-amylase (AA)) of hydrolysates from lupin proteins pretreated with ultrasound and hydrolyzed using alcalase (ACT) and flavourzyme (FCT). We further fractionated ACT and FCT into three molecular weight fractions. Unfractionated ACT and FCT showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher AG (IC50 value = 1.65 mg/mL and 1.91 mg/mL) and AA (IC50 value = 1.66 mg/mL and 1.98 mg/mL) inhibitory activities than their ultrafiltrated fractions, where lower IC50 values indicate higher inhibitory activities. Then, ACT and FCT were subjected to peptide sequencing using LC-MS-QTOF to identify the potential AG and AA inhibitors. Molecular docking was performed on peptides with the highest number of hotspots and PeptideRanker score to study their interactions with AG and AA enzymes. Among the peptides identified, SPRRF, FE, and RR were predicted to be the most active peptides against AG, while AA inhibitors were predicted to be RPR, PPGIP, and LRP. Overall, hydrolysates prepared from lupin proteins using alcalase and flavourzyme may be useful in formulating functional food for managing diabetics.

Recent findings on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of action of novel food-derived antihypertensive peptides

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Hypertension has remained a silent-killer.

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Novel peptides recently isolated from food proteins.

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Molecular mechanism of blood pressure-lowering: renin and ACE-inhibition, and beyond.

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Proposed molecular mechanisms for future research.

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Novel peptides are excellent candidates for nutraceutical development.

Hypertension impacts negatively on the quality of life of sufferers, and complications associated with uncontrolled hypertension are life-threatening. Hence, many research efforts are exploring the antihypertensive properties of bioactive peptides derived from food proteins using in vitro ACE-inhibitory assay, experimentally-induced and spontaneous hypertensive rats, normotensive and hypertensive human models. In this study, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of blood pressure-lowering properties of novel peptides reported in recent studies (2015-July 30, 2021) were discussed. In addition to common mechanisms such as the inhibition of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) and renin activities, recently recognized mechanisms through which bioactive peptides exert their antihypertensive properties including the induction of vasodilation via upregulation of cyclo-oxygenase (COX) and prostaglandin receptor and endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression and L-type Ca²⁺ channel blockade were presented. Similarly, emerging mechanisms of blood pressure-lowering by bioactive peptides such as modulation of inflammation (TNF-α, and other cytokines signaling), oxidative stress (Keap-1/Nrf2/ARE/HO-1 and related signaling pathways), PPAR-γ/caspase3/MAPK signaling pathways and inhibition of lipid accumulation were discussed. The review also highlighted factors that influence the antihypertensive properties of peptides such as method of hydrolysis (type and number of enzymes, and chemical used for hydrolysis, and microbial fermentation), and amino acid sequence and chain length of peptides.

Comprehensive Identification of Short and Medium-Sized Peptides from Pixian Broad Bean Paste Protein Hydrolysates Using UPLC-Q-TOF-MS and UHPLC-Q Exactive HF-X

Pixian broad bean paste (PBBP) is an indispensable food widely used in many East Asian countries, yet the knowledge about bioactive peptides released from parent proteins by enzymatic hydrolysis is limited. A total of 5867 low-molecular weight peptides were identified in the highly bioactive subfractions of the PBBP alcalase hydrolysates using traditional and peptidomics approaches. 19 short peptides (3-5 amino acids) were identified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, including 5 tripeptides, 8 tetrapeptides, and 6 pentapeptides. 5848 medium-sized peptides (6-10 amino acids) were characterized using the peptidomics approach, including 1484 hexapeptides, 1217 heptapeptides, 1634 octapeptides, 927 nonapeptides, and 586 decapeptides. The comprehensive method can be used for the investigation of bioactive peptides in complex food matrices.

Ensemble-AHTPpred: A Robust Ensemble Machine Learning Model Integrated With a New Composite Feature for Identifying Antihypertensive Peptides

Hypertension or elevated blood pressure is a serious medical condition that significantly increases the risks of cardiovascular disease, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, kidney disease, and other health problems, that affect people worldwide. Thus, hypertension is one of the major global causes of premature death. Regarding the prevention and treatment of hypertension with no or few side effects, antihypertensive peptides (AHTPs) obtained from natural sources might be useful as nutraceuticals. Therefore, the search for alternative/novel AHTPs in food or natural sources has received much attention, as AHTPs may be functional agents for human health. AHTPs have been observed in diverse organisms, although many of them remain underinvestigated. The identification of peptides with antihypertensive activity in the laboratory is time- and resource-consuming. Alternatively, computational methods based on robust machine learning can identify or screen potential AHTP candidates prior to experimental verification. In this paper, we propose Ensemble-AHTPpred, an ensemble machine learning algorithm composed of a random forest (RF), a support vector machine (SVM), and extreme gradient boosting (XGB), with the aim of integrating diverse heterogeneous algorithms to enhance the robustness of the final predictive model. The selected feature set includes various computed features, such as various physicochemical properties, amino acid compositions (AACs), transitions, n-grams, and secondary structure-related information; these features are able to learn more information in terms of analyzing or explaining the characteristics of the predicted peptide. In addition, the tool is integrated with a newly proposed composite feature (generated based on a logistic regression function) that combines various feature aspects to enable improved AHTP characterization. Our tool, Ensemble-AHTPpred, achieved an overall accuracy above 90% on independent test data. Additionally, the approach was applied to novel experimentally validated AHTPs, obtained from recent studies, which did not overlap with the training and test datasets, and the tool could precisely predict these AHTPs.

A novel angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory peptide from rabbit meat protein hydrolysate: identification, molecular mechanism, and antihypertensive effect in vivo

Bioactive peptides exhibiting angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory effects and extracted from natural foods have potential as healthy and safe therapeutics for high blood pressure. The aim of this study was to isolate and purify ACE inhibitory peptides from rabbit meat protein hydrolysate, to explore the underlying mechanisms by molecular docking, and to evaluate the antihypertensive effects in vivo. A novel ACE inhibitory tetrapeptide Trp-Gly-Ala-Pro (WGAP) was identified and purified from a bromelain hydrolysate. WGAP acted against ACE in a non-competitive manner with an IC₅₀ of 140.70 ± 4.51 μM. It was resistant to enzymatic degradation by pepsin and trypsin in vitro. Molecular docking analysis indicated that WGAP formed stable hydrogen bonds with ACE residues His353, Ala354 and ALA356. In vivo, 100 mg kg^-1 WGAP significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive rats by up to 42.66 ± 2.87 and 28.56 ± 2.71 mmHg, respectively, 4 h after oral administration. ACE inhibitory peptides derived from rabbit meat have potential antihypertensive effects and provide a new route for the exploration of novel hypertension inhibitors and the utilization of rabbit meat.

Novel Angiotensin-I Converting Enzyme Inhibitory Peptides Isolated From Rice Wine Lees: Purification, Characterization, and Structure-Activity Relationship

The bioactive peptides that can inhibit angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE, EC. 3. 4.15.1) are considered as possible cures of hypertension. Food-derived angiotensin-I converting enzyme inhibitory (ACEi) peptides have gained more attention because of their reduced side effects. In this study, we reported the method for purifying ACEi peptides from the lees of traditional Chinese rice wine and evaluated the product's biochemical properties. After three steps of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), for the first time, we isolated, purified, and identified two novel peptides: LIIPQH and LIIPEH, both of which showed strong ACEi activity (IC₅₀-values of 120.10 ± 9.31 and 60.49±5.78 μg/ml, respectively). They were further categorized as mixed-type ACE inhibitors and were stable against both ACE and gastrointestinal enzymes during in vitro digestion. Together, these results suggest that the rice wine lees that produced as a by-product during rice wine production can be utilized in various fields related to functional foods and antihypertensive medicine.

Recently isolated food-derived antihypertensive hydrolysates and peptides: A review

Hypertension is a non-communicable disease characterized by elevated blood pressure, and a prominent metabolic syndrome of modern age. Food-borne bioactive peptides have shown considerable potencies as suitable therapeutic agents for hypertension. The peptide inhibition of the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) from its default biochemical conversion of Ang I to Ang II has been studied and more relatively adopted in several studies. This review offers an examination of the isolation of concomitant proteins in foods, their hydrolysis into peptides and the biofunctionality checks of those peptides based on their anti-hypertensive potentialities. Furthermore, critical but concise details about methodologies and analytical techniques used in the purification of such peptides are discussed. This review is a beneficial literature supplement for scholars and provides functional awareness material for the food-aligned alternative therapy for hypertension. In addition, it points researchers in the direction of adopting food materials and associated by-products as natural sources for the isolation biologically active peptides.

Melanoidins from Chinese Distilled Spent Grain: Content, Preliminary Structure, Antioxidant, and ACE-Inhibitory Activities In Vitro

Distilled spent grain (DSG), as the major by-product of baijiu making, contains melanoidins generated via the Maillard reaction. In this study, four melanoidin fractions (RF1‒RF4) were isolated successively from dried DSG (DDSG) using sodium hydroxide solution and water as extractants, and the content, preliminary structure, and ACE-inhibitory activities in vitro of melanoidins were first investigated. The antioxidant activity was also evaluated. The results indicated that the total content of melanoidins was 268.60 mg/g DDSG dry weight (dw) using a model system of glucose and serine as standard, and RF4 showed the highest content of melanoidins (174.30 mg/g DDSG dw). Functional groups like C=O, N‒H, C‒N, O‒H, C‒H, C‒O, C-C, and ‒C‒CO‒C‒ were present in the structure of melanoidins from RF4, as determined by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) assay. The highest antioxidant activities, as assessed by 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS^•+), ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) assays, and the highest angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity (95.92% at 2 mg RF4/mL) were also exhibited by RF4. The RF4 was further fractionated by ultrafiltration based on molecular weight (MW). The more than 100 kDa melanoidins (RF4-6) exhibited the highest yield and antioxidant activity. The 3‒10 kDa melanoidins (RF4-2) were more efficient in ACE-inhibitory activity. Our study could raise awareness of the DDSG as a value-added resource.