Food-derived peptides unleashed: emerging roles as food additives beyond bioactivities

Abstract

Innovating food additives stands as a cornerstone for the sustainable evolution of future food systems. Peptides derived from food proteins exhibit a rich array of physicochemical and biological attributes crucial for preserving the appearance, flavor, texture, and nutritional integrity of foods. Leveraging these peptides as raw materials holds great promise for the development of novel food additives. While numerous studies underscore the potential of peptides as food additives, existing reviews predominantly focus on their biotic applications, leaving a notable gap in the discourse around their abiotic functionalities, such as their physicochemical properties. Addressing this gap, this review offers a comprehensive survey of peptide-derived food additives in food systems, accentuating the application of peptides’ abiotic properties. It furnishes a thorough exploration of the underlying mechanisms and diverse applications of peptide-derived food additives, while also delineating the challenges encountered and prospects for future applications. This well-time review will set the stage for a deeper understanding of peptide-derived food additives.

Keywords:

• Bioactive peptides
• food additives
• novel food ingredients
• protein derivatives

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Dr. Qixian Zhang, Dr. Sha Deng and Dr. Guiping He for their helpful discussions. This work is financially supported by Cultural and Technology Innovation Research Center of SCU-LUZHOU LAOJIAO Co. Ltd. (Project Grant No. 202202).

Author contributions

Yanli Yang: Writing - original draft, Editing, Preparation of figure; Lunjie Huang: Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing, Supervision, Visualization; Zhangjun Huang: Visualization; Yao Ren: Supervision; Yanfei Xiong: Formal analysis; Zhenghong Xu: Supervision; Yuanlong Chi: Funding acquisition, Review & Editing, Supervision, Project administration.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Opening Project of Innovation Research Center for Culture, Science and Technology, Sichuan University & Luzhou Laojiao (No. 202202).