EN
Biologically active peptides are of particular interest to food science and nutrition because they may act as potential physiological modulators of metabolism. Hidden or inactive in the amino-acid sequence of food proteins, they can be released or activated in vivo during gastrointestinal digestion, or in vitro during enzymatic hydrolysis and food processing. Egg proteins are an important source of these bioactive peptides. In recent years, major egg protein components, ovoalbumin, conalbumin, ovomucin and phosvitin, have also been shown to contain bioactive sequences. Peptides showing antiadhesive, anticancer as well as immunomodulatory activities were found in ovomucin sequence. Immunoregulative peptides were also found in peptic and chymotryptic hydrolysates of ovoalbumin. Ovocinin and ovocinin(2-7) - angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory peptides, whose pharmacological activity was observed in micromolar concentrations - were liberated during in vitro proteolysis of ovoalbumin. Furthermore, many egg protein hydrolysates showed antimicrobial and antioxidant activity after proteolysis with different enzymes, and several active peptides were isolated and identified.