Identification, in silico selection, and mechanistic investigation of antioxidant peptides from corn gluten meal hydrolysate

Xiao Wang; Juan Fu; Khushwant S Bhullar; Bingjie Chen; Hongru Liu; Yi Zhang; Chunfang Wang; Chenxia Liu; Di Su; Xia Ma; Yongjin Qiao

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.138777

Identification, in silico selection, and mechanistic investigation of antioxidant peptides from corn gluten meal hydrolysate

Food Chem. 2024 Jul 15:446:138777. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.138777. Epub 2024 Feb 19.

Authors

Xiao Wang¹, Juan Fu², Khushwant S Bhullar³, Bingjie Chen¹, Hongru Liu¹, Yi Zhang¹, Chunfang Wang¹, Chenxia Liu¹, Di Su⁴, Xia Ma⁵, Yongjin Qiao⁶

Affiliations

¹ Crop Breeding and Cultivation Research Institution, Research Center for Agricultural Products Preservation and Processing, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, PR China.
² Crop Breeding and Cultivation Research Institution, Research Center for Agricultural Products Preservation and Processing, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, PR China; School of Flavor and Fragrance Technology and Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, PR China.
³ Department of Agricultural Food & Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2P5, Canada.
⁴ School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, PR China.
⁵ School of Flavor and Fragrance Technology and Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, PR China.
⁶ Crop Breeding and Cultivation Research Institution, Research Center for Agricultural Products Preservation and Processing, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, PR China. Electronic address: yjqiao2002@126.com.

PMID: 38402763
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.138777

Abstract

Seven novel antioxidant peptides (AWF, LWQ, WIY, YLW, LAYW, LPWG, and LYFY) exhibiting a superior activity compared to trolox were identified through in silico screening. Among these, the four peptides (WIY, YLW, LAYW, and LYFY) displayed notably enhanced performance, with ABTS activity 2.58-3.26 times and ORAC activity 5.19-8.63 times higher than trolox. Quantum chemical calculations revealed that the phenolic hydroxyl group in tyrosine and the nitrogen-hydrogen bond in the indole ring of tryptophan serve as the critical sites for antioxidant activity. These findings likely account for the potent chemical antioxidant activity. The corn peptides also exerted a protective effect against AAPH-induced cytomorphologic changes in human erythrocytes by modulating the antioxidant system. Notably, LAYW exhibited the most pronounced cytoprotective effects, potentially due to its high content of hydrophobic amino acids.

Keywords: Antioxidant activity; Corn gluten meal; Identification; In silico selection; Quantum chemistry.

MeSH terms

Antioxidants* / chemistry
Glutens* / chemistry
Humans
Peptides / chemistry
Phenols
Zea mays / chemistry

Substances

Antioxidants
Glutens
Peptides
Phenols