The antioxidant and immunomodulatory activities of selenium-enriched rice protein hydrolysates (Se-PH) were evaluated by a cellular antioxidant activity test and macrophage proliferation and phagocytosis assays, respectively. The results showed that trypsin hydrolysate provided the highest proliferation rate of 60.91% at a concentration of 100 μg/mL. Moreover, a remarkable rise in the phagocytosis rates for trypsin hydrolysate (64.1%) and pepsin-trypsin hydrolysate (54.5%) was observed when the sample concentrations were increased to 50 μg/mL. A positive correlation was found between the phagocytic ability of macrophages and both the selenium concentration and the degree of hydrolysis of Se-PH, and the correlation coefficients R obtained were 0.792 and 0.930 (P < 0.05), respectively. The capacity of Se-PH to inhibit the oxidation of dichlorodihydrofluorescein had a significant negative correlation with the phagocytic ability of macrophages (R = -0.840, P < 0.05). In conclusion, a positive correlation was found between the antioxidant activity and the immunomodulatory activity of Se-PH, which could be used as potential functional food additives for improving human health.
Keywords: antioxidant activity; immunomodulatory activity; rice protein; selenium.
© 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.