Insects as source of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory peptides

Abstract

Hypertension is well known as one of the major risk for cardiovascular diseases which annually affect millions of people. The angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) plays a key role in blood pressure regulation process. Indeed, hypertension treatment by synthetic ACE inhibitors (e.g. captopril, lisinopril and ramipril) is effective; however, their use can cause serious side effects, such as hypotension, cough, reduced renal function and angioedema. Thus, research was focused on natural ACE inhibitory peptides sources such as foodstuffs and also, more recently, edible insects. In the last decades, ACE inhibitory activity has been detected in protein hydrolysates from insect species belonging to the orders of Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and also Orthoptera. Further investigations led to identify specific ACE inhibitory peptides from the silkworm Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), the yellow mealworm Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), the cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and also from the weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Even if ACE inhibitory activity of these bioactive peptides has been in vitro assayed and is comparable to those of some bioactive peptides derived from other animal protein sources, the in vivo effectiveness of most of these bioactive peptides still needs to be confirmed. The aim of this review is to present an outline of the currently available data on the potential use of insects for hypertension treatment with a focus on the ACE inhibitory peptides identified in these invertebrates to date.

Nutritional, Physiochemical, and Antioxidative Characteristics of Shortcake Biscuits Enriched with Tenebrio molitor Flour

“…As high-protein products, insects are, therefore, potential sources of bioactive proteins and peptides. Numerous amino acid sequences from insects have been identified, which have been associated with in vitro bioactive properties [23,26,[40][41][42]. Proteins and peptides are also involved in the antioxidant properties of insects [25,26,43], and depending on the species of edible insects these proteins might change the DPPH • and ABTS •+ radical scavenging activity.…”

Antihypertensive, cardio- and neuro-protective effects of Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) defatted larvae in spontaneously hypertensive rats

“…Edible insects were recently proposed as novel functional food by virtue of their antitumor, antiobesity, antimicrobial, antioxidant and antihypertensive properties [3]. For example, the protein fraction from gastrointestinal [4] or alcalase enzyme hydrolysis [5] of larvae of Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera Tenebrionidae) (TM) shows ACE inhibitory activity.…”

Edible insects as a source of food bioactives and their potential health effects

“…Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory activity of peptides from various insect species similar to that of bioactive compounds from other animals (Cito et al, 2017). Elevated angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory activity of hydrolysates following gastrointestinal digestion of various insects (Vercruysse et al, 2005;Vercruysse et al, 2008;Wu et al, 2011) Antioxidant activity Antioxidant capacities of water and liposoluble extracts from several insect species 2-3 times higher than those of orange juice and olive oil (Di Mattia et al, 2019) Anticarcinogenic activity Potential anticancer activity of various proteins, peptides (Slocinska et al, 2008) and alkaloids (Pettit et al, 2005) contained in insects as well as of crude insect-derived extracts (Ahn et al, 2000) In vivo studies…”

“…Inhibitors of angiotensin-converting enzyme, which causes the constriction of blood vessels, are used as a medication for cardiovascular diseases. Inhibitory angiotensin-converting enzyme activity has been revealed in several insect species, including silkworm, yellow mealworm and wax moth (Cito et al, 2017).…”