Structural and Antihypertensive Properties of Enzymatic Hemp Seed Protein Hydrolysates

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 7; no. 9; pp. 7616 - 7632
• Main Authors: Malomo, Sunday A, Onuh, John O, Girgih, Abraham T, Aluko, Rotimi E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10.09.2015; MDPI
• Subjects: angiotensin converting enzyme; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors - metabolism; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors - pharmacology; Animals; Antihypertensive Agents - metabolism; Antihypertensive Agents - pharmacology; Antihypertensives; Blood pressure; Blood Pressure - drug effects; Cannabis; Cardiovascular disease; Chromatography, Gel; degree of hydrolysis; Disease Models, Animal; Enzymes; fluorescence intensity; Hemp; hemp seed; Hypertension; Hypertension - drug therapy; Hypertension - metabolism; Hypertension - physiopathology; Male; Pepsin A - metabolism; Peptides; Pharmaceutical industry; Phytotherapy; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plant Proteins - pharmacology; Plants, Medicinal; protein hydrolysate; Protein Hydrolysates - metabolism; Protein Hydrolysates - pharmacology; Proteins; Rats, Inbred SHR; renin; Renin - antagonists & inhibitors; Renin - metabolism; Renin-Angiotensin System - drug effects; Seeds; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; spontaneously hypertensive rats; Subtilisins - metabolism; systolic blood pressure; Canada; United States > US; hemp seed; angiotensin converting enzyme; protein hydrolysate; renin; spontaneously hypertensive rats; systolic blood pressure; fluorescence intensity; degree of hydrolysis
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu7095358

The aim of this work was to produce antihypertensive protein hydrolysates through different forms of enzymatic hydrolysis (2% pepsin, 4% pepsin, 1% alcalase, 2% alcalase, 2% papain, and 2% pepsin + pancreatin) of hemp seed proteins (HSP). The hemp seed protein hydrolysates (HPHs) were tested for in vitro inhibitions of renin and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), two of the enzymes that regulate human blood pressure. The HPHs were then administered orally (200 mg/kg body weight) to spontaneously hypertensive rats and systolic blood pressure (SBP)-lowering effects measured over a 24 h period. Size exclusion chromatography mainly showed a 300-9560 Da peptide size range for the HPHs, while amino acid composition data had the 2% pepsin HPH with the highest cysteine content. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed higher fluorescence intensities for the peptides when compared to the unhydrolyzed hemp seed protein. Overall, the 1% alcalase HPH was the most effective (p < 0.05) SBP-reducing agent (-32.5 ± 0.7 mmHg after 4 h), while the pepsin HPHs produced longer-lasting effects (-23.0 ± 1.4 mmHg after 24 h). We conclude that an optimized combination of the fast-acting HPH (1% alcalase) with the longer-lasting HPHs (2% and 4% pepsin) could provide daily effective SBP reductions.