Abstract
Peptides present in foods are involved in nutritional functions by supplying amino acids; sensory functions related to taste or solubility, emulsification, etc.; and bioregulatory functions in various physiological activities. In particular, peptides have a wide range of physiological functions, including as anticancer agents and in lowering blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels, enhancing immunity, and promoting calcium absorption. Soy protein can be partially hydrolyzed enzymatically to physiologically active soy (or soybean) peptides (SPs), which not only exert physiological functions but also help amino acid absorption in the body and reduce bitterness by hydrolyzing hydrophobic amino acids from the C- or N-terminus of soy proteins. They also possess significant gel-forming, emulsifying, and foaming abilities. SPs are expected to be able to prevent and treat atherosclerosis by inhibiting the reabsorption of bile acids in the digestive system, thereby reducing blood cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and fat levels. In addition, soy contains blood pressure-lowering peptides that inhibit angiotensin-I converting enzyme activity and antithrombotic peptides that inhibit platelet aggregation, as well as anticancer, antioxidative, antimicrobial, immunoregulatory, opiate-like, hypocholesterolemic, and antihypertensive activities. In animal models, neuroprotective and cognitive capacity as well as cardiovascular activity have been reported. SPs also inhibit chronic kidney disease and tumor cell growth by regulating the expression of genes associated with apoptosis, inflammation, cell cycle arrest, invasion, and metastasis. Recently, various functions of soybeans, including their physiologically active functions, have been applied to health-oriented foods, functional foods, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. This review introduces some current results on the role of bioactive peptides found in soybeans related to health functions.
Highlights
Peptides present in foods are involved in nutritional functions by supplying amino acids; sensory functions related to taste or solubility, emulsification, etc.; and bioregulatory functions in various physiological activities
In October 1999, the Food and Drug Administration of the USA declared that soy protein reduces the danger associated with metabolic dysfunction-related human diseases such as cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease and granted the use of health labels to increase the consumption of soybeans in public interest in the USA and Japan [16,17]
The expression level of phosphorylated cAMP response elementbinding protein (CREB) was upregulated (Table 1) [50]. These results demonstrate that soybean-derived peptides (SPs) have preventive effects on cognitive impairment through neurotrophic effects and that they play an important role in preventing aging-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease
Summary
Functional foods such as soybean-derived peptides (SPs) can prevent and treat certain diseases in addition to providing nutrition. Research on soy products has increased significantly as they have emerged as functional foods that improve blood circulation and intestinal regulation In addition to their nutritional value, soybeans contain specific phytochemical substances that have been known to promote health, including dietary fiber, isoflavones (genistein and daidzein), phospholipids, phenolic acids, trypsin inhibitor, saponins, and phytic acid [10,11,20]. These substances are effective in preventing chronic diseases, including arteriosclerosis, cardiac diseases, diabetes, senile dementia, cancer, and osteoporosis. Bioactive peptides comprising 2–20 amino acids are inactive when they are part of the parental protein sequence but become activated upon release by the methods described above [10,28,29]
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