Bioactive Peptides Derived from Whey Proteins for Health and Functional Beverages
Saubenova M. Oleinikova Y. Rapoport A. Maksimovich S. Yermekbay Z. Khamedova E.
July 2024Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Fermentation
2024#10Issue 7
Milk serves as a crucial source of natural bioactive compounds essential for human nutrition and health. The increased production of high-protein dairy products is a source of whey—a valuable secondary product that, along with other biologically valuable substances, contains significant amounts of whey proteins and is often irrationally used or not utilized at all. Acid whey, containing almost all whey proteins and approximately one-quarter of casein, presents a valuable raw material for generating peptides with potential health benefits. These peptides exhibit properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive, antithrombotic, opioid, mineral-binding, and growth-stimulating activities, contributing to improved human immunity and the treatment of chronic diseases. Bioactive peptides can be produced by enzymatic hydrolysis using a variety of proteolytic enzymes, plant extracts, and microbial fermentation. With the participation of plant enzymes, peptides that inhibit angiotensin-converting enzyme are most often obtained. The use of enzymatic hydrolysis and microbial fermentation by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) produces more diverse peptides from different whey proteins with α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin as the main targets. The resulting peptides of varying lengths often have antimicrobial, antioxidant, antihypertensive, and antidiabetic characteristics. Peptides produced by LAB are promising for use in medicine and the food industry as antioxidants and biopreservatives. Other beneficial properties of LAB-produced, whey-derived peptides have not yet been fully explored and remain to be studied. The development of whey drinks rich in bioactive peptides and based on the LAB proteolytic activity is underway. The strain specificity of LAB proteases opens up broad prospects for combining microorganisms to obtain products with the widest range of beneficial properties.
fermentation , functional products , lactic acid bacteria , peptides , proteolytic activity , whey
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Research and Production Center of Microbiology and Virology, Bogenbay Batyr Str., 105, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Latvia, Jelgavas Str., 1-537, Riga, LV-1004, Latvia
Research and Production Center of Microbiology and Virology
Laboratory of Cell Biology
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026