Bioactive peptides: Production and functionality.

The health attributes of milk and dairy products in many instances are associated with so-called bioactive peptides – these peptides being parts of the protein structure and consisting of two to twenty amino acids. The peptides are inactive in the parent protein molecule until dislodged by natural or induced processes. This has been the topic of various papers as the functionality and possibilities in the context of human health of milk bioactive peptides are being discovered every day. The bioactive peptides and ways to extract them have been reviewed by Korhonen and Pihlanto in a paper published in the International Dairy Journal, Volume 16, Issue 9 of 2006, pages 945 to 960. The title of the paper is Bioactive peptides: Production and functionality.

Milk and some other food proteins through their bioactive peptides have a wide range of nutritional, functional and biological activities. They may affect the major body systems – cardiovascular, digestive, immune and nervous systems – depending on their amino acid sequence and numbers. Some of the peptide compositions are known and have been shown to have antimicrobial, antioxidative, antithrombotic, antihypertensive and immunomodulatory properties, which can be enhanced if extracted and concentrated in the laboratory.

The peptides following extraction can be utilized as ingredients in health-promoting foods. In the natural system the peptides are set free by the digestion of milk in the digestive tract. In the laboratory it can be done by fermentation with proteolytic starter cultures or by hydrolysis with proteolytic enzymes which are extracted from microorganisms or plants, or by fractionation and enrichment using novel membrane separation and ion exchange methods. The latter techniques are mostly used in efforts of upscaling to commercial production in the emerging global dairy ingredient industry, which mainly are companies associated with the giants in the dairy and food industries.

To create capacity, with ultimate benefits to the local dairy industry in terms of expanding its market and influence, one would like to see R & D initiatives in the bioactive peptide field. Government, through its Department of Science and Technology, has created biotechnology platforms, which provide opportunities to utilise fermentation, DNA, membrane, rheological, nano and other advanced technologies. The possibilities that the bioactive peptides offer in human health are vast and one would like to see the Dairy Industry making use of the opportunity.