There is a wide variety of peptides in cured meats with relevant bioactivity like angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE-I) inhibition, among others. Depending on the type of processing, such meats may experience a more or less intense hydrolysis of muscle proteins by endogenous peptidases with the release of large amounts of diverse bioactive peptides with different length. The purpose of this work was to determine the presence of bioactive dipeptides in dry-cured ham having ACE-I inhibitory activity with potential benefits for cardiovascular health. Samples of Biceps femoris muscles were excised from six 12 months processed dry-cured hams. Peptides were extracted with 0.01% HCl and deproteinized with ethanol. Once resuspended in water, peptides were fractionated by ultrafiltration and those smaller than 3 kDa were freeze-dried before further analysis. The LC-MS/MS analysis was performed using an Agilent 1260 Infinity LC (hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography) system coupled to a QQQ 6420 Triple Quad LC/MS (Agilent, CA) with an ESI. ACE-I inhibitory activity was assayed by a fluorescent method, 355 nm excitation and 405 nm emission wavelengths, using Abz-Gly-p-nitro-Phe-Pro-OH at pH 8.3 as substrate. Several bioactive dipeptides with different levels of ACE-I inhibitory activity such as PA, AA, AW, GA, VG, EE, ES, DA, and DG were detected. The most remarkable were AW, AA, VG and GA with IC50 values of 3.3, 110.8, 377.7, 516.9 μM, respectively. Dipeptides AW and AA were tested in spontaneously hypertensive rats, resulting in a decreased systolic blood pressure of 31.20 mmHg and 15.97, respectively, after 8 h of ingestion (p&lt;0.01). Dipeptides AW and AA have pI values of 3.66 and 3.69, respectively, and aliphatic nature and therefore their intrinsic features may promote hydrophobic interactions with ACE-I. In summary, muscle proteins are extensively hydrolysed by endo- and exo-peptidases during the processing of dry-cured meats resulting in the generation of dipeptides with relevant angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE-I) inhibitory activity that may benefit cardiovascular health.

Bioactive dipeptides in cured meats and its cardiovascular health relevance

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