Fish–derived proteins and their potential to improve human health

Abstract

Emerging evidence from studies evaluating the effect of lean fish consumption in humans suggests that proteins from fish have several beneficial metabolic effects. Rest, or waste, material from the fishing industry contains high-quality proteins, and utilization of this material offers novel possibilities for the development of protein-containing products that might be beneficial for human consumption. Fish-derived peptides containing bioactive amino acid sequences suggested to beneficially influence pathways involved in body composition, hypertension, lipid profile, and regulation of glucose metabolism are of particular interest, although the results of published studies are conflicting. This review aims to summarize current knowledge from animal studies and clinical interventions in humans evaluating the effects of lean fish, fish proteins, and fish-derived peptides on outcomes related to metabolic health. Fish proteins have a high content of taurine, and animal trials suggest that taurine mediates some of the beneficial effects observed thus far, although the mechanisms by which fish peptides exert their action are not yet elucidated. At this time, the literature is inconsistent, and there is insufficient mechanistic evidence to support a beneficial effect of fish-derived peptides on metabolic health.

Taurine and cardiac disease: state of the art and perspectives

“…Although in humans, taurine is mainly synthesized in small quantities by the heart and brain (Schaffer and Kim 2018), its primary source without any doubt is from the diet such as seafood, eggs, and meat (Wójcik et al 2010;Abebe and Mozaffari 2011;Ames 2018;Dale et al 2019). Thus, a lack of taurine consumption may contribute to taurine deficiency.…”

The Potential Role of Fish-Derived Protein Hydrolysates on Metabolic Health, Skeletal Muscle Mass and Function in Ageing

“…The processing of material from the fishing industry generates more than 60% of its by-products as rest, or waste, comprising skin, head, viscera, trimmings, liver, frames, bones and roes [3]. These by-products represent valuable, high-quality sources of protein and nutrients that are underused and/or unexploited [4][5][6]. Enzymatic hydrolysis is the preferred method of extracting these resources in the food and pharmaceutical sectors, as other methods (i.e., chemical hydrolysis) can leave residual organic solvents or chemicals in the products [7].…”

“…In recent years, FPH have attracted considerable attention from food biotechnologists, given the abundance of raw material for the process, its high protein content, and desirable AA profile [3,12]. Importantly, this material is host to a plethora of bioactive peptides that may have practical applications in functional foods [3,5,8,10,[13][14][15].…”

“…To date, one review has summarised the existing knowledge from animal and human clinical studies evaluating the effects of lean fish, fish proteins, and fish-derived peptides on metabolic health outcomes [5]. However, to our knowledge, the current evidence relating to FPH within the context of adult human health and ageing has not been outlined.…”

Supplementation with cod protein hydrolysate in older adults: a dose range cross-over study

“…GLP-1 is released from the enteroendocrine L-cells in response to food intake and lowers blood glucose levels by stimulating insulin secretion, suppressing glucagon secretion and slowing gastric emptying (18) . In general, fish protein and hydrolysates from fish protein have a well-balanced distribution of amino acids and should be considered a high-quality protein source, and there is an increasing amount of evidence supporting a favourable effect of these proteins on metabolic health (19) .…”