Antioxidant and Renin Inhibitory Activities of Peptides from Food Proteins on Hypertension: A Review.

Hypertension is a condition induced by oxidative stress causing an alteration in the endothelium, which increases the risk of suffering from other degenerative diseases. This review compiles the findings on peptides from food proteins with antioxidant and antihypertensive activities. Antihypertensive peptides are mainly focused on renin inhibition. Peptides containing hydrophobic amino acids have antioxidant and renin inhibitory activities, as reported by studies on the biological activity of peptides from various food sources evaluated separately and simultaneously. Peptides from food sources can present multiple biological activities. Moreover, antioxidant peptides have the potential to be evaluated against renin, offering an alternative for hypertension therapy without causing adverse side effects.

Scavenging peptides, antioxidant activity, and hypoglycemic activity of a germinated amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.) beverage fermented by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum.

Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. is a pseudocereal with nutritional properties. Some bioactive peptides have been identified from amaranth protein isolates. The metabolic reactions developed during seed germination have produced different functional foods. The present research aimed to develop a non-dairy germinated amaranth-based functional beverage fermented by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (LP) strain using Lacticaseibacillus casei Shirota (LCS) as control. The content of betalains (BT), total phenolic compounds (TFC), antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP), color changes, and scavenging bioactive peptides were determined. BT in the original base was significantly increased after fermentation by LP and LCS (from 1.276 ± 0.030 to 2.732 ± 0.196 and 1.904 ± 0.760 mg/100 ml, respectively). TFC increased after fermentation; however, no significant differences were found between the two strains (p > .05). The fermentation did not decrease the antioxidant content of the germinated amaranth base. However, a slight increase in the antioxidant capacity was found by DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP in the beverage fermented by LP compared with the LCS one. Moreover, the peptidomic approach suggested 18 peptides with scavenging activity. Thus, a bioactive food product with antioxidant properties was obtained by germination of A. hypochondriacus and its subsequent fermentation by LP. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Non-dairy fermented beverages are novel carriers for probiotics and beneficial metabolites. This research evaluated the antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity of a fermented drink made with amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) and a potential probiotic strain (Lactiplantibacillus plantarum). The results led to conclude that it is possible to develop functional drinks with potential antioxidant and hypoglycemic activities and provide the biochemical basis for further research and development.

Effect of In Vitro Digestion on the Antioxidant Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity of 12 Plum (Spondias purpurea L.) Ecotypes.

Spondias purpurea L. plum is a source of antioxidant compounds. Nevertheless, once they are consumed and go through the digestive system, these compounds may undergo changes that modify their bioaccessibility. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion on the total content of carotenoids (TCC), ascorbic acid (AA), phenolic compounds (TPC), flavonoids (TFC), anthocyanins (TAC), and antioxidant capacity (ABTS, DPPH) of 12 plum Spondias purpurea L. ecotypes. The plum samples were subjected to the InfoGest in vitro digestion model. TCC, AA, TPC, TFC, TAC, ABTS, and DPPH were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) in each in vitro digestion stage. The gastric stage released the highest content of AA (64.04-78.66%) and TAC (128.45-280.50%), whereas the intestinal stage released the highest content of TCC (11.31-34.20%), TPC (68.61-95.36%), and TFC (72.76-95.57%). Carotenoids were not identified in the gastric stage whilst anthocyanins were lost at the end of the intestinal digestion. At the gastric stage, AA presented a positive and high correlation with ABTS (r: 0.83) and DPPH (r: 0.84), while, in the intestinal stage, TPC and TFC presented positive and high correlation with ABTS (r ≥ 0.8) and DPPH (r ≥ 0.8), respectively.

Extraction and Microencapsulation of Bioactive Compounds from Muicle (Justicia spicigera) and Their Use in the Formulation of Functional Foods.

Bioactive compounds (BC) present in muicle leaves were extracted using the best extraction conditions obtained with a Box-Behnken experimental design, extracting 95% of BC. Microencapsulation of muicle BC was carried out by spray drying using DE10 maltodextrin (MD) and soy protein isolate (SPI) as encapsulating agents. The best conditions for the ethanolic extraction of BC from muicle were 30 °C, 40% aqueous ethanol, and one extraction for 1 h. The best spray drying encapsulating conditions for BC and antioxidant capacity (AC) using MD as an encapsulating agent were: 160-80 °C and 10% MD in the feeding solution, and for SPI: 180-70 °C and 5% SPI in the feeding solution. Microcapsules were added to yogurt and a sensory evaluation and retention of BC during 15-day storage at 4 °C was performed. Sensory evaluation showed that yogurt with added MD microcapsules had better acceptance than that with SPI microcapsules. Based on this, a jelly with added muicle MD microcapsules was also prepared which obtained better acceptance by the judges. At the end of the storage period, yogurt with SPI microcapsules showed better retention of BC and AC than yogurts with MD microcapsules; however, products with MD microcapsules had better acceptance.