The Stability of Food Bioactive Peptides in Blood: An Overview

Abstract

Food bioactive peptides are keenly investigated due to their potential health promoting bioactivities including antihypertensive, antioxidative, anti-carcinogenic and anti-neurogenerative properties. While various natural resources are studied for their bioactive peptide content, stability of food bioactive peptides in digestive processes and circulation in blood is currently under-investigated. However, half-life of peptides in blood is of critical importance, since the distribution of peptides to specific tissues is a function of the circulatory duration. Here, an attempt was made to predict the potential blood stability of proven food bioactive peptides. Using the sequence information for all the peptides listed on Bioactive Peptides Database (BioPepDB), half-lives of food bioactive peptides in blood were predicted in silico using PLifePred. This analysis encompassed 3074 peptides from 12 different source categories including milk, amphibian, eggs, fish, fungi, etc. In addition, based on the recent work of our group, hazelnut peptides were included in the analysis (n = 179). The majority of food bioactive peptides were found to demonstrate a half-life value of 800–900 s, which was comparable to or lower than circulatory hormones. Only a few exceptional peptides could be anticipated a blood serum half-life > 2500 s. The implications of the current findings on the efficiency of bioactive peptides in food systems have been discussed.