Microbial Bioactive Peptides from Bacteria, Yeasts, and Molds

Abstract

Microorganisms have been used since ancient times to make foods. In recent decades, particular attention has been paid to beneficial health effects of consuming traditional or novel fermented products. Fermentation brings about the hydrolysis of the food matrix and the concomitant generation of different hydrolysis products. In particular, proteolysis generates free amino acids and peptides, some of which have been shown to possess bioactive properties. These bioactive peptides can be generated from bacteria, yeast, and filamentous fungi. Among bacteria, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are the main microbial utilized in food industry as they are used for the production of fermented foods (dairy or vegetable products) and food bio-preservation (meat-derived foods) or as probiotic. LAB-derived bioactive peptides are produced since the particular proteolytic system of these bacteria. They have been extensively investigated through their extraction, purification, isolation, identification, and determination of their bioactivity using in vitro, in silico, and in vivo studies. Yeast-derived bioactive peptides can be produced through autolysis or hydrolysis of yeast cells with commercial proteases (yeast extracts), during the growth phase of yeast cells, or they can be formed during fermentation process. Additionally, some bioactive peptides have been obtained by co-cultures of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeast. Finally, filamentous fungi present a great potential for the production of proteases or fermented products by solid-state fermentation. The main bioactive properties for fermentation-derived peptides are antihypertensive, antioxidant, and antimicrobial. Different ways to obtain bioactive peptides from lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and filamentous fungi are discussed.