Search for antihypertensive peptides in hydrolysates of pork by-products using peptidomic approaches

Recently, food products with a functional focus that promote health have been in increased demand. Promising raw materials for such products may be meat by-products, for example, pork stomachs, rich in sources of biologically available protein. The aim of this study was to search and identify peptides for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity using in silico peptidomic approaches. The object of study was a protein identified in the UniProt database as P01284. By combining bioinformatics tools, the workflow required for screening ACE inhibitory peptides can be greatly simplified and the costs of searching for active peptides can be significantly reduced, increasing overall efficiency. It has been established that monopeptides L (Leu), F (Phe) and M (Met) are active fragments of known peptides that have the function of lowering blood pressure, which were previously found in proteins of fish, vegetable, and dairy products. VF (Val-Phe) is contained in 103 sequences, of which 29 contain the exact Val-Phe peptide. The exact VF (Val-Phe) peptide isolated from pork sarcoplasmic proteins was chosen as the prototype. Future research should include studies of anti-ACE activity in vivo and the search for new peptides, which will lead to the availability of more beneficial fortified products on the market. The integrated approach allowed to speed up and reduce the cost of identifying promising antihypertensive peptides. The presented methodology can be effectively applied to further search for bioactive compounds in animal raw materials. The obtained results confirm the potential of using pork by-products for the production of functional food ingredients. In the future, in vivo studies are planned to confirm the biological activity of the identified peptides and expand the range of nutraceuticals with proven action.