Biological activity and health benefits of food-derived bioactive peptides

Abstract

Bioactive peptides (BPs) generated by enzymatic hydrolysis possess diverse biological properties. In recent years, reports on novel BPs derived from both food and non-food protein sources, such as animals, plants, fermented food products, and microorganisms, have drastically increased. The biological activities of BPs include antioxidant, antihypertensive, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, immomodulatory, opioid, and anticancer properties, among others. Of these, BPs with antioxidative and antihypertensive properties have been studied the most, but their tests were commonly conducted in vitro. Since the mechanism of their biological functions and safety in real situations might be required to support health claims, future research on BPs with the aforementioned activities and/or alternative functions should employ in vivo models and human subjects. Furthermore, the cost of production and formulation for stability should be evaluated prior to commercialization.