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In this study, the peach kernel proteins were extracted and treated with alkaline proteinase to generate peach kernel protein hydrolysate (PKH), which showed angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition activity. The hydrolysate was separated into four fractions and their anti-ACE activities were investigated. Our results showed that all PKHs had anti-ACE activity, and the lowest molecular weight fraction PKH4 had the highest ACE inhibitory activity. Lineweaver–Burk plots illustrated that the inhibition types of PKH3 and PKH4 were non-competitive. The Ki of PKH4 was lower than Ki of PKH3; suggesting PKH4 had high affinity to ACE. Amino acid composition analysis showed that the best anti-ACE peptide PKH4 possessed high levels of hydrophobic amino acids, branched-chain amino acids, and aromatic amino acids. In summary, our findings demonstrated that high anti-ACE activity is negatively related to the size of the PKHs and possibly the composition of amino acids, and the PKH4 was the best ACE inhibitor. Further, peach kernel peptides can be developed as a functional food for patients with hypertension.
Abstract
Myricetin has been reported to have a wide variety of beneficial physiological functions. The present study investigated the antihyperlipidaemic activity of myricetin against hyperlipidaemia of high-fat diet-fed obese rats. The four-week antihyperlipidaemic activity was assayed by giving different doses of myricetin to hyperlipidaemic rats. Results showed that myricetin could reduce the harm caused by oxidative stress, decrease thiobarbituric acid reactive substances value, and decrease total cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels of hyperlipidaemic rats. Quantitative analysis of gene expression showed that myricetin's lipid-lowering activity can be activated by downregulating gene expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) with upregulation of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) mRNA level. Thus, myricetin had significant health benefits and could be explored as a potentially promising dietary supplement for treating hyperlipidaemia.
Abstract
There have been contradicting observations regarding the prebiotic efficacy of feruloylated oligosaccharides (FOs) extracted from different varieties of cereals with varying oligosaccharides and ferulic acid (FA) levels. The present study was performed to determine whether the mass ratio of xylooligosaccharide (XOS) to FA influences their combined effects on faecal FA content, short chain fatty acid (SCFA) output, and gut stress of d-galactose-treated aging rats. The results show that there was no significant difference in the faecal FA levels of rats fed with 5:1 and 10:1 XOS:FA diet, although the FA level in the 5:1-supplemented diet was twice as much as in the 10:1 diet. More utilisation of FA decreased butyric acid and SCFA output in the faeces for diet 5:1 compared with diets 10:1 XOS:FA or XOS alone. Furthermore, compared with 10:1 XOS:FA or XOS alone treatments, the 5:1 XOS:FA diet resulted in increased 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl activity and higher ratios of Bifidobacterium or Lactobacillus to Escherichia coli (P < 0.05), while not increasing the number of probiotic Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. These findings suggest that under the specific stress level set for this study, the sufficient amount of FA added to XOS (5:1) can stimulate FA utilisation to modify gut redox balance, while reducing faecal SCFA output.
