Bioactive Peptide-Enriched Requeson: A Functional Dairy Product From Whey Fermentation.

Area of Science:

• Food Science and Technology
• Dairy Science
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Requeson cheese, a traditional Mexican whey cheese, offers potential for dairy by-product valorization.
• The functional and bioactive properties of Requeson cheese are largely underexplored.
• Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation can enhance the bioactivity of dairy products.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the enhancement of bioactive properties in Requeson cheese via LAB fermentation.
• To compare the effects of monocultures (Lactobacillus delbrueckii, Streptococcus thermophilus) and a co-culture of these LAB.
• To characterize the peptide profile and bioactivities of Requeson cheese produced from fermented whey.

Main Methods:

• Sweet whey was fermented using L. delbrueckii, S. thermophilus, or a co-culture.
• Requeson cheese was produced from the fermented whey.
• Peptide-rich extracts were analyzed for antioxidant, mineral-chelating, enzymatic inhibitory, and antimicrobial activities.
• Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and UniDL4BioPep were used for peptide identification and bioactivity prediction.

Main Results:

• Co-culture fermentation significantly increased antioxidant capacity, ACE-I inhibition, DPP-IV inhibition, and antimicrobial activity compared to monocultures.
• Specific bioactive peptides with predicted antioxidant, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, and antimicrobial properties were identified in the co-culture Requeson cheese.
• LAB co-fermentation effectively enriched Requeson cheese with bioactive peptides.

Conclusions:

• LAB co-culture fermentation is an effective strategy for producing functional Requeson cheese with enhanced health-promoting properties.
• This approach promotes the sustainable utilization of dairy by-products.
• The study contributes to the development of novel functional dairy products within the bioeconomy.