Production and Functionality of Food-derived Bioactive Peptides: A Review

Proteins are present in a wide range of our everyday foods and complex macromolecules made up of one or more polypeptide chains. From these common foods, a large number of bioactive peptides can be produced. An array of biological health effects has been attributed to these peptides, including antioxidative, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, anticoagulant, antithrombotic, antiinflammatory, hypocholesterolemic and immunomodulating. The chemical structure of biologically active peptides is closely related to its specific biological activity. Furthermore, the amino acid composition and sequence information of peptide molecular chain have an important influence on its physiological activity. Food-derived bioactive peptides are typically released from animal and plant proteins via enzymatic hydrolysis under in vitro or in vivo conditions using different kinds of protease. However, the production, separation and purification of bioactive peptides with desired specific functions have become a focus and challenge. In addition, further studies are needed on the mechanism of action and multiple biological functionalities. Theresent review focuses on the recent biotechnological advances in the production, purification and identification of bioactive peptides were. Structure-activity relationship and methods to evaluate several common food-derived bioactive peptides were reviewed as well.