[Peptides with antihypertensive activity from milk and egg proteins]

Antihypertensive hydrolysates and peptides have been isolated from food proteins. Among them, there are of particular interest the antihypertensive casein hydrolysates, and some antihypertensive products obtained when milk was fermented by Lactobacillus helveticus. The sequences Val-Pro-Pro (VPP) and Ile-Pro-Pro (IPP), with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity, have been isolated from these fermented products. Selected Enterococcus faecalis strains can also produce milk derived peptides with ACE inhibitory and antihypertensive activities. The main of them is the sequence LHLPLP. Some studies also describe the production of antihypertensive hydrolysates and peptides from egg proteins. The sequences FRADHPFL (ovokinin) and RADHPFL (ovokinin 2-7), that have shown endothelium-dependent vasodilator activity, were obtained at first. Some egg white hydrolysates with ACE inhibitory activity have also been described. The idea of including the above-mentioned products as functional food ingredients is particularly attractive. Some of them have already proved their safety and effectiveness in hypertensive patients.