Cured meats are highly produced and consumed worlwide. Depending on the type of processing, such meats may experience a more or less intense hydrolysis of muscle proteins releasing large amounts of diverse peptides that not only affect taste and flavor but also the bioactivity. The purpose of this work was to determine the presence of bioactive peptides in dry-cured ham having antioxidant and angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE-I) inhibitory activity with potential cardiovascular health benefits. Many antioxidant peptides were detected being SNAAC the most active peptide with IC50 value of 75.2 μM in DPPH radical scavenging assay, and 205 μM in ferric-reducing antioxidant power analysis. Another relevant antioxidant peptide was AEEEYPDL, that was calculated to be present at 0.148 fg per g of dry-cured ham, even though it is partially degraded during gastrointestinal digestion. The antihypertensive effect of dry-cured ham extract, rich in bioactive peptides &lt;1700 Da, was assayed in vivo using spontaneously hypertensive rats. The results showed that systolic blood pressure (SBP) was significantly decreased in 38 mm Hg after 8 h of ingestion (p&lt;0.05) and it returned to values similar to the control after 24 h. The extract was analysed by mass spectrometry in tandem revealing the presence of &gt;2500 peptides containing the ACE inhibitory sequences Pro–Pro–Lys, Pro–Ala–Pro, and Ala–Ala–Pro. Such sequences are mainly present in peptides derived from troponin-T, and myosin heavy and light chains. Further, several peptides with ACE inhibitory activity were identified after simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion of the extract like KAAAAP (IC50 19.8 µM), AAPLAP (IC50 14.4 µM), KPVAAP (IC50 12.4 µM), IAGRP (IC50 25.9 µM), KPGRP (IC50 67.1 µM), TGLKP (IC50 51.57 µM), KAAAATP (IC50 25.6 µM) and AAATP (IC50 100 µM) among others. As an example, peptide PTPVP was tested in spontaneously hypertensive rats, resulting in a decreased SBP of 25.6 mmHg (p&lt;0.01) after 6 h of ingestion. An assay with humans revealed that daily intake of 80 g dry-cured ham did not impair blood pressure even though its high salt content. In summary, muscle proteins are extensively hydrolysed by endo- and exo-peptidases during the processing of dry-cured meats resulting in the generation of numerous peptides with relevant antioxidant and angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE-I) inhibitory activity that may prevent cardiovascular diseases.

Bioactive peptides in cured meats and its health relevance

2019 Fall National Meeting

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