A literature survey covering the presence of bioactive peptides in plant-derived foodstuffs is presented. Examples are given of plant peptides associated with a beneficial effect on human health. The main bioactive effects of these peptides are defined and their mechanism of action described, when known. Current understanding of the way in which these molecules are adsorbed, distributed, metabolized and finally excreted is discussed. A particular focus is given to potentially immunomodulatory peptides. The leading analytical assay methods used to evaluate their activity are outlined. Inspection of crop proteomic data revealed that at least 6000 proteins may harbour bioactive peptides. The analysis of these proteins using a Gene Ontology approach has provided a number of insights regarding their occurrence and relevance.
Biological significance: The review reports an updated survey on bioactive peptides present in food crop plants, with a particular focus on immunomodulatory peptides which might be relevant for therapeutic applications. It employs a bioinformatic approach to search for proteins of crop plants potentially harboring bioactive peptides, summarising through Gene Ontology the main classes of peptide-containing proteins in food.
Keywords: ADME; Crop plants; Data mining; Gene Ontology; Immunomodulatory peptides.
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