Bioactive peptides in fermented foods and their application: a critical review

Identification of Potential Bioactive Peptides in Sheep Milk Kefir through Peptidomic Analysis at Different Fermentation Times

“…These numbers are quite similar to other works on kefir from other species [13,14,17]. As expected and already described, most peptides derived from the four main milk caseins, which represent around 80% of total milk protein abundance [10,53]. Among those proteins, β-casein provided the highest number of peptides with more than 825, quite similar to that previously found in goat milk kefir [17].…”

“…Milk and dairy products are an important source of bioactive molecules, with a plethora of beneficial properties that have been described for human health [10,37]. In particular, peptides released from milk proteins have been reported to exhibit multiple physiological activities, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antithrombotic, anti-inflammatory, or immunomodulatory properties, among many others [15,17,[55][56][57].…”

“…Fermented milk products, including kefir, contain bioactive peptides, which are released from the native proteins and are characterized by measurable physiological effects and beneficial impacts on health [6,10]. The peptides found in milk and dairy products provide a wide variety of peptide sequences with functional properties of varying scientific, medical and commercial importance [11].…”

Nutritional and potential health benefits of fermented food proteins

“…[6][7][8][9]15,21,53 The profound and unique microbe-mediated alteration of physical, nutritional and sensory qualities that occurs during fermentation involves the disintegration of complex compounds such as polysaccharides, proteins and lipids into smaller molecules and several metabolites, including SCFAs and peptides, which exhibit a plethora of bioactive properties and exert multiple nutritional and health benefits in humans. 8,[54][55][56] The several primary metabolites formed during fermentation from biogenic actions can enhance natural immunity and exert immunomodulatory activity. 39 Besides yogurt, cheese, sausages, sauerkraut and more recently fermented beverages such as kefir and kombucha, most traditional fermented food products are still manufactured at the household level or by small artisanal businesses.…”

“…The fermentation of dairy, legume, fish and meat products releases BAPs with a variety of bioactivities, 40,56 with antioxidant and ACE inhibitory activities being predominant, 37 may lower the risk of chronic diseases and provide other health benefits and impart flavor to meat (Table 1). Compared with commercially available antioxidants, natural BAPs generated from food sources are considered a safer option with no reported side effects, being cheaper in cost and not synthetic in nature.…”