Pretreatment with formic acid enhances the production of small peptides from highly cross-linked collagen of spent hens

Strategies to Improve Hydrolysis Efficiency of Fish Skin Collagen: Study on ACE Inhibitory Activity and Fibroblast Proliferation Activity

Collagen peptides play a crucial role in promoting skin elasticity and enhancing joint health, with potential functions to be explored. Enzyme hydrolysis is crucial for the molecular weight and sequence of peptides, influencing the bio-activity. In this study, the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity and fibroblast proliferation activity of differentially molecular weight peptides derived from dual- or triple-enzyme hydrolysis were compared. Ultrafiltration membrane filtration was used to separate the hydrolyzed prepared collagen peptides into two components based on the molecular size. The results showed that the low-molecular-weight peptide fraction containing peptides with P at the C-terminal, such as KP, RP, and POGP, exhibited high ACE inhibitory activity. The low-molecular-weight peptide fraction obtained through triple-enzyme hydrolysis incorporating ginger protease exhibited the highest ACE inhibitory activity, with an IC50 3.1 mg/mL. In addition, the triple-enzyme hydrolyzed collagen peptides passing across membranes displayed higher migration rates and enhanced collagen synthesis capabilities, containing peptide sequences, such as POGP, POGA, and LPO, potentially promoting fibroblast proliferation. The results would provide practical guidance for the production of collagen peptides with high ACE inhibitory activity and fibroblast proliferation activity, in terms of enzyme processing and highly active peptide separation.

Synergistic modification of collagen structure using ionic liquid and ultrasound to promote the production of DPP-IV inhibitory peptides

BACKGROUND

Dual modification of collagen was performed using ionic liquid (IL) and ultrasound (US) to modulate the activity of collagen hydrolyzed peptides and reveal the production mechanism of cowhide-derived dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP-IV) inhibitory peptides.

RESULTS

The results revealed that dual modification (IL + US) significantly improved the hydrolytic degree of collagen (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, IL and US tended to promote the break of hydrogen bonds, but inhibit the crosslinking between collagens. The double modification reduced the thermal stability and accelerated the exposure of tyrosine and phenylalanine of collagen, and improved the proportion of small molecular (< 1 kDa) peptides in collagen hydrolysates. Interestingly, the hydrophobic amino acid residues and DPP-IV inhibitory activity of collagen peptides with small molecular weight (< 1 kDa) was increased further under the combination of IL and US.

CONCLUSION

Enhanced hypoglycemic activity of collagen peptides can be attained through the dual modification of IL and US. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Mechanistic Insight Into the Production of Collagen Oligopeptides by the S8 Family Protease A4095

Collagen oligopeptides have wide applications in foods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and others due to their high bioactivities and bioavailability. The S8 family is the second-largest family of serine proteases. Several collagenolytic proteases from this family have been reported to have good potential in the preparation of collagen oligopeptides, however, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. A4095 was the most abundant S8 protease secreted by the protease-producing bacterium Anoxybacillus caldiproteolyticus 1A02591. Here, we characterized A4095 as an S8 collagenolytic protease and illustrated its structural basis to produce collagen oligopeptides. Protease A4095 preferentially hydrolyzed the Y-Gly peptide bonds in denatured bovine bone collagen, leading to high production (62.48% <1000 Da) of collagen oligopeptides. Structural and mutational analyses indicated that A4095 has a unique S1' substrate-binding pocket to preferentially bind Gly, which is the structural determinant for the high production of collagen oligopeptides. This study provides mechanistic insight into the advantage of the S8 collagenolytic proteases in preparing collagen oligopeptides.

Influence of the Degree of Hydrolysis on Functional Properties and Antioxidant Activity of Enzymatic Soybean Protein Hydrolysates

Soybean protein hydrolysates were prepared using two proteolytic enzymes (Alcalase and Protamex) and the degree of hydrolysis (DH) and their functional and antioxidant properties were evaluated. The highest DH value was 20%, with a yield of 19.77% and protein content of 51.64%. The total amino acid content was more than 41% for all protein hydrolysates. The protein hydrolysates from Protamex at pH 2.0 had excellent solubility, emulsifying activity, and foaming capacity, at 83.83%, 95.03 m²/g, and 93.84%, respectively. The water-holding capacity was 4.52 g/g for Alcalase, and the oil-holding capacity was 4.91 g/g for Protamex. The antioxidant activity (62.07%), as measured by the samples' reaction with DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and the reducing power (0.27) were the strongest for Protamex. An ABTS activity rate of 70.21% was recorded for Alcalase. These findings indicated a strong potential for the utilization of soybean protein hydrolysates to improve the functional properties and antioxidant activity of soybeans as well as their nutritional values.

Conventional use and sustainable valorization of spent egg-laying hens as functional foods and biomaterials: A review

Spent hen are egg-laying hens reaching the end of their laying cycles; billions of spent hens are produced globally each year. Differences in people's attitudes towards spent hen as foods lead to their different fates among countries. While spent hens are consumed as raw or processed meat products in Asian countries such as China, India, Korea, and Thailand, they are treated as a byproduct or waste, not a food product, in the western society; they are instead disposed by burial, incineration, composting (as fertilizers), or rendering into animal feed and pet food, which either create little market value or cause animal welfare and environmental concerns. Despite being a waste, spent hen is a rich source of animal proteins and lipids, which are suitable starting materials for developing valorized products. This review discussed the conventional uses of spent hens, including food, animal feed, pet food, and compost, and the emerging uses, including biomaterials and functional food ingredients. These recent advances enable more sustainable utilization of spent hen, contributing to alternative solutions to its disposal while yielding residual value to the egg industry. Future research will continue to focus on the conversion of spent hen biomass into value-added products.

Graphical abstract

Potential of Thermolysin-like Protease A69 in Preparation of Bovine Collagen Peptides with Moisture-Retention Ability and Antioxidative Activity

Bovine bone is rich in collagen and is a good material for collagen peptide preparation. Although thermolysin-like proteases (TLPs) have been applied in different fields, the potential of TLPs in preparing bioactive collagen peptides has rarely been evaluated. Here, we characterized a thermophilic TLP, A69, from a hydrothermal bacterium Anoxybacillus caldiproteolyticus 1A02591, and evaluated its potential in preparing bioactive collagen peptides. A69 showed the highest activity at 60 °C and pH 7.0. We optimized the conditions for bovine bone collagen hydrolysis and set up a process with high hydrolysis efficiency (99.4%) to prepare bovine bone collagen peptides, in which bovine bone collagen was hydrolyzed at 60 °C for 2 h with an enzyme-substrate ratio of 25 U/g. The hydrolysate contained 96.5% peptides that have a broad molecular weight distribution below 10000 Da. The hydrolysate showed good moisture-retention ability and a high hydroxyl radical (•OH) scavenging ratio of 73.2%, suggesting that the prepared collagen peptides have good antioxidative activity. Altogether, these results indicate that the thermophilic TLP A69 has promising potential in the preparation of bioactive collagen peptides, which may have potentials in cosmetics, food and pharmaceutical industries. This study lays a foundation for the high-valued utilization of bovine bone collagen.

Characterization of an intracellular aspartic protease (PsAPA) from Penicillium sp. XT7 and its application in collagen extraction

An intracellular aspartic protease, PsAPA, was identified from Penicillium sp. XT7. This protease was belonged to penicillopepsin and was expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115. The recombinant PsAPA had a specific activity of 4289.7 ± 261.7 U/mg. The pH and temperature maxima of the enzyme were 3.0 and 30 °C, respectively. The PsAPA was stable in the pH range from 3.0 to 6.0 and was completely inactivated after incubation at 50 °C for 15 min. Presence of Mn²⁺ and Cu²⁺ increased the proteolytic activity and β-mercaptoethanol and SDS showed inhibitory effects, whereas 0.05 M pepstatin A strongly inhibited it. PsAPA could effectively hydrolyze animal proteins, including myoglobin, and hemoglobin but not collagens. PsAPA increased the yield of collagen extraction compared to the acid extraction method. The above properties show that the novel low-temperature acidic protease, PsAPA, is comparable to commercial proteases (porcine pepsin) and has great potential for collagen extraction.

Spent Hen Protein Hydrolysate with Good Gastrointestinal Stability and Permeability in Caco-2 Cells Shows Antihypertensive Activity in SHR

Spent hens are a major byproduct of the egg industry but are rich in muscle proteins that can be enzymatically transformed into bioactive peptides. The present study aimed to develop a spent hen muscle protein hydrolysate (SPH) with antihypertensive activity. Spent hen muscle proteins were hydrolyzed by nine enzymes, either individually or in combination; 18 SPHs were assessed initially for their in vitro angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity, and three SPHs, prepared by Protex 26L (SPH-26L), pepsin (SPH-P), and thermoase (SPH-T), showed promising activity and peptide yield. These three hydrolysates were further assessed for their angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) upregulating, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities; only SPH-T upregulated ACE2 expression, while all three SPHs showed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. During simulated gastrointestinal digestion, ACE2 upregulating, ACE inhibitory and antioxidant activities of SPH-T were not affected, but those of SPH-26L and SPH-P were reduced. ACE inhibitory activity of gastrointestinal-digested SPH-T was not affected after the permeability study in Caco-2 cells, while ACE2 upregulating, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were improved; nine novel peptides with five–eight amino acid residues were identified from the Caco-2 permeate. Among these three hydrolysates, only SPH-T reduced blood pressure significantly when given orally at a daily dose of 1000 mg/kg body weight to spontaneously hypertensive rats. SPH-T can be developed into a promising functional food ingredient against hypertension, contributing to a more sustainable utilization for spent hens while generating extra revenue for the egg industry.

Preparation of low-molecular-weight, collagen hydrolysates (peptides): Current progress, challenges, and future perspectives

Collagen hydrolysates (peptides) derived from food processing byproducts have been used to produce commercially valuable food ingredients due to their potential to trigger certain desirable physiological responses in the body. Low-molecular-weight (LMW) collagen hydrolysates are generally thought to exert better bioactivities than their larger counterparts. However, the preparation of LMW collagen hydrolysates is often impeded by their special structure, cross-linking, and hydroxyproline. This review briefly introduces the motivation of the food industry to prepare LMW collagen hydrolysate from food processing byproducts. We further summarize recent progress on the preparation of LMW collagen hydrolysates and methods to determine the molecular weight. We then discuss the challenges and then provide perspectives on future directions in preparing LMW collagen hydrolysates.