Measuring the oral bioavailability of protein hydrolysates derived from food sources: A critical review of current bioassays

• Published in: Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy Vol. 144; p. 112275
• Main Authors: Abeer, Muhammad Mustafa, Trajkovic, Sanja, Brayden, David J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France Elsevier Masson SAS 01.12.2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Animals; Biological Assay; Biological Availability; Digestion; Food Handling; Food-derived peptides; Gastrointestinal Tract - metabolism; Humans; Hydrolysis; Intestinal Absorption; Mass Spectrometry; Nutraceuticals; Oral peptide bioavailability; Oral peptide delivery; Oral peptide hydrolysates; Permeability; Protein Hydrolysates - administration & dosage; Protein Hydrolysates - blood; Protein Hydrolysates - pharmacokinetics; Oral peptide hydrolysates; Oral peptide bioavailability; Oral peptide delivery; Nutraceuticals; Food-derived peptides
• ISSN: 0753-3322; 1950-6007
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2021.112275

Food proteins are a source of hydrolysates with potentially useful biological attributes. Bioactive peptides from food-derived proteins are released from hydrolysates using exogenous industrial processes or endogenous intestinal enzymes. Current in vitro permeability assays have limitations in predicting the oral bioavailability (BA) of bioactive peptides in humans. There are also difficulties in relating the low blood levels of food-derived bioactive peptides detected in preclinical in vivo models to pharmacodynamic read-outs relevant for humans. In this review, we describe in vitro assays of digestion, permeation, and metabolism as indirect predictors of the potential oral BA of hydrolysates and their constituent bioactive peptides. We discuss the relationship between industrial hydrolysis processes and the oral BA of hydrolysates and their peptide by-products. Hydrolysates are challenging for analytical detection methods due to capacity for enzymatic generation of peptides with novel sequences and also new modifications of these peptides during digestion. Mass spectrometry and peptidomics can improve the capacity to detect individual peptides released from complex hydrolysates in biological milieu. [Display omitted] •Oral bioavailability of peptides from food-derived hydrolysates can be assessed.•Mass spectrophotometry and peptidomic analysis of plasma samples are used.•Permeability assays can predict the oral bioavailability of peptides from hydrolysates or isolated peptides.•The hydrolytic methods used to generate hydrolysates from food proteins affect oral bioavailability.