The functional properties and adipogenesis inhibitory activity of quinoa protein hydrolysates, prepared using papain, pepsin, and pancreatin for 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min, were studied. For these three kinds of proteases, the solubility of the hydrolysates significantly increased with the increasing DH in pH range of 3–8, while the EAI and ESI of these hydrolysates significantly decreased during hydrolysis. The anti‐inflammatory activity of these protein hydrolysates was measured. All of these protein hydrolysates showed high anti‐inflammatory activity. However, there was no significant difference in anti‐inflammatory activity between protein hydrolysates and total protein from quinoa. These protein hydrolysates also inhibited lipid accumulation during differentiation within the range of concentrations of 0–1,600 μg/ml, which exerted no cytotoxicity toward 3T3‐L1 cells. The protein hydrolysates from quinoa prepared using pepsin for 120 min (PEP‐120) had the highest activity with an IC₅₀ value of 786.58 μg/ml. Moreover, LC‐MS/MS analysis of PEP‐120 showed that five main bioactive peptides, which have been demonstrated to have ACE inhibitor, antioxidant, and antithrombotic activities, were present in PEP‐120. In addition, gene expression and Western blot analysis revealed that PEP‐120 suppressed the 3T3‐L1 cell differentiation through the peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ (PPARγ) pathway.

The water-extractable (QWP) and the alkali-extractable (QAP) polysaccharides from quinoa (named QWP and QAP, respectively) and their four polysaccharide sub-fractions (QWP-1, QWP-2, QAP-1 and QAP-2), were isolated and purified by anion-exchange and gel filtration chromatography. QWP-1 and QWP-2 were composed of Rha, Ara, Gal and GalA. QAP-1 and QAP-2 were composed of Rha, Ara, Man, Gal and GalA. Antioxidant and immunoregulatory activities of the polysaccharides were evaluated. The results showed that QWP-1, QWP-2, QAP-1 and QAP-2 had significant antioxidant and immunoregulatory activities. The results suggest that QWP-1, QWP-2, QAP-1 and QAP-2 could be used as potential antioxidants and immunomodulators.

α-Amylase inhibitors (α-AI) have great potential to treat obesity. In this study, an α-AI enriched extract (α-AIE) with a specific activity of 1027.1 ± 154.2 (U per mg protein) was prepared from white common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) seeds. Its anti-obesity effect and gut microbiota modulation properties were verified in high-fat diet-induced obese rats. The intake of the α-AIE significantly reduced body weight gain and improved serum lipid levels (p < 0.05). In addition, rats fed the α-AIE diet exhibited higher total short-chain fatty-acid (SCFA) concentrations (p < 0.05) in their colonic contents. β-Diversity analysis, principal component analysis and a Venn diagram showed that α-AIE administration changed the gut microbiota composition. At the phylum level, the relative abundances of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria decreased and the relative abundances of Bacteroidetes and Akkermansia increased. In addition, 89 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) significantly responding to the high-fat diet and 30 OTUs significantly responding to the α-AIE were identified. The OTUs enriched by the α-AIE were mainly assigned to putative SCFA-producing bacteria, including Bacteroides, Butyricoccus, Blautia and Eubacterium. Twenty-two OTUs were found to be significantly correlated with obesity indexes. Taken together, the present results suggest that the intake of the α-AIE attenuated obesity and modulated gut microbiota.

Consumption of soybean products has been implicated in the prevention of breast cancer. This study provides insights into the anti-proliferative activity of 12 anticarcinogens from soybean by single or two-way combination treatment against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. Results showed that genistein, daidzein, glycitein, genistin and dainzin showed stronger anti-proliferative activity against MCF-7 cells with EC₅₀ values of 66.98 ± 4.87 μM, 130.14 ± 2.10 μM, 190.67 ± 5.65 μM, 72.82 ± 2.66 μM and 179.21 ± 6.37 μM, respectively. There is a synergistic effect of combination treatment of genistin plus daidzin in MCF-7 cells with combination index at inhibition of 50% (CI₅₀) of 0.89 ± 0.12. Genistein, glycitein, genistin and β-sitosterol were demonstrated to have a stronger anti-proliferative activity against MDA-MB-231 cells with EC₅₀ values of 93.75 ± 5.15 μM, 142.67 ± 5.88 μM, 127.82 ± 4.70 μM and 196.28 ± 4.45 μM. The synergistic effect was observed in the mixture of genistein plus genistin, genistein plus β-sitosterol or β-sitosterol plus genistin with CI₅₀ values of 0.56 ± 0.13, 0.54 ± 0.20 and 0.45 ± 0.12, respectively. These bioactive anticarcinogens were able to inhibit invasion and migration of breast cancer cells and the combination treatments enhanced the inhibitory effect. Regulation of PI3K/Akt/mTORpathway seems to be the main mechanisms involved in the anticancer activity.