Abstract
Food proteins play a role in an important part of nutritional, biological, and functional activities. Depending on their amino acid sequences, food protein-derived peptides exhibit several functional activities such as effects on the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems. These peptides have different health effects, including blood pressure-lowering (ACE inhibitory) effects, antimicrobial properties, cholesterol-lowering ability, mineral binding ability, antithrombotic and antioxidant activities, immunomodulatory effects, and opioid activities. These functional peptides are inactive or hidden within the sequence of the parent protein molecule and are activated during in vivo gastrointestinal digestion, fermentation of food with proteolytic starter cultures, or hydrolysis via proteolytic enzymes. In this review, the functional properties of food-derived bioactive peptides are dwelled on and their usage as therapeutic ingredients and functional food ingredients are evaluated.