Bioactive Peptides from Soybeans and Derived Products

Abstract

Bioactive peptides have attracted many researchers in the past decades. The peptides have 2 to 30 amino acid residues with molecular weights less than 6,000 Da. Among the reported bioactive peptides, those from soybeans and derived products are the most frequently investigated. The bioactive peptides have been known to be present in soybeans, soymilk, fermented soybeans, soy protein hydrolysates, defatted soy protein hydrolysates, and soy-based products such as infant formula with various bioactivities. Bioactive peptides are defined as protein fragments with amino acid sequences that have biological activities, such as antioxidant, antihypertensive, antithrombotic, anti-adipogenic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. The bioactivity of a bioactive peptide can be determined by the presence of amino acid residues in its sequence. Bioactive peptides with antihypertensive activity have a different presence of amino acid residues. Generally, antimicrobial peptides have similarities in their amino acid chains, which are composed of cationic and hydrophobic amino acid residues.