Protein hydrolysates in animal nutrition：Industrial production, bioactive peptides,and functional significance

Recent years have witnessed growing interest in the role of peptides in animal nutrition. Chemical, enzymatic, or microbial hydrolysis of proteins in animal by-products or plant-source feedstuffs before feeding is an attractive means of generating high-quality small or large peptides that have both nutritional and physiological or regulatory functions in livestock, poultry and fish. These peptides may also be formed from ingested proteins in the gastrointestinal tract, but the types of resultant peptides can vary greatly with the physiological conditions of the animals and the composition of the diets. In the small intestine, large peptides are hydrolyzed to small peptides,which are absorbed into enterocytes faster than free amino acids（AAs） to provide a more balanced pattern of AAs in the blood circulation. Some peptides of plant or animal sources also have antimicrobial, antioxidant,antihypertensive, and immunomodulatory activities. Those peptides which confer biological functions beyond their nutritional value are called bioactive peptides. They are usually 2–20 AA residues in length but may consist of 〉20AA residues. Inclusion of some（e.g. 2–8%） animal-protein hydrolysates（e.g., porcine intestine, porcine mucosa,salmon viscera, or poultry tissue hydrolysates） or soybean protein hydrolysates in practical corn-and soybean mealbased diets can ensure desirable rates of growth performance and feed efficiency in weanling pigs, young calves,post-hatching poultry, and fish. Thus, protein hydrolysates hold promise in optimizing the nutrition of domestic and companion animals, as well as their health（particularly gut health） and well-being.

Antifatigue,Antioxidant and Immunoregulatory Effects of Peptides Hydrolyzed from Manchurian Walnut(Juglans mandshurica Maxim.) on Mice

The Manchurian walnut(Juglans mandshurica Maxim.) is rich in proteins, whereas this resource has not been used efficiently. The antifatigue, antioxidative and immunoregulatory effects of Manchurian walnut hydrolysate peptides(MWHPs)were evaluated in this study. MWHPs with a degree of hydrolysis of 32.23% were ultrafiltered and divided into three fractions,namely, high(> 10 k Da), medium(3–10 kDa), and low molecular weight(< 3 kDa), and then fed to mice continuously at doses of 200, 400 or 800 mg/(kg·d). The antifatigue, antioxidative, and immunoregulatory effects of the peptides were tested on the second and fourth weeks of MWHP administration. Results showed that low-molecular-weight MWHPs exerted significant antifatigue(prolonging swimming time, elevating liver glycogen contents, and reducing lactic acid contents), antioxidative(enhancing superoxide dismutase(SOD), GSH-Px, and catalase(CAT) activities and reducing malondialdehyde(MDA) content), and immunoregulatory(raising the immune-organ index and promoting T-lymphocyte proliferation and s Ig A secretion in the intestinal tract) effects. This research indicates that MWHPs have potential applications in health care and may be developed as a base for new functional foods.

Purification,characterization,in vitro anti-hepatic fibrosis activity of bioactive peptides derived from Carapax Trionycis hydrolysates

Anti-hepatic fibrosis peptide from Carapax Trionycis was purified, characterized, and inhibitory effect was assessed. Carapax Trionycis extract peptide hydrolysates （CTEPHs） were separated by ultrafiltration, Sephadex G-15 gel chromatography and RP-HPLC. One novel anti-hepatic fibrosis peptide （CTEPH-I： Asn-Pro-Asn-Pro-Thr） was obtained and identified. MTS assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were applied to evaluate the anti-fibrotic effect of CTEPH-1 on activated hepatic stellate cells （HSCs） in vitro. CTEPH-1 efficiently inhibited activation and proliferation of cultured HSC-T6 cells via lowering the contents of collagen and TIMP- 1 except for matrix metalloproteinase- 1 （MMP- 1）. The purified peptide might be beneficial as functional food or potential drug for treatment of liver fibrogenesis.