By-products from the industrialization of oilseeds, particularly chia, can be sustainably used for the development of new functional products. In this work, wheat breads supplemented with up to 10 mg of chia expeller hydrolysate/g of flour were prepared, obtaining fortified breads with acceptability for consumption, according to a preliminary consumer research study based on an affective test employing a five-point hedonic scale of global acceptance. In this context, protein hydrolysates of the chia expeller were produced using Alcalase, reaching a degree of hydrolysis of 54.3 ± 1.6% with an antioxidant activity of 55.8 ± 0.4% after 6 h incubation at 25 °C in the presence of the enzyme. These peptides showed appropriate techno-functional properties and chemical compositions suitable for the further development of bakery products. Taken together, our approach and the development of a fortified bread with plant-based bioactive peptides provide a novel and eco-friendly alternative for the recovery of nutrients from agro-industrial waste. More importantly, these enriched breads could exert beneficial effects on human health by exploiting the antioxidant properties of functional peptides derived from the chia expeller.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important mediator molecules of the innate defense mechanisms in a wide range of living organisms, including bacteria, mammals, and plants. Among them, peptide protease inhibitors (PPIs) from plants play a central role in their defense mechanisms by directly attacking pathogens or by modulating the plant’s defense response. The growing prevalence of microbial resistance to currently available antibiotics has intensified the interest concerning these molecules as novel antimicrobial agents. In this scenario, PPIs isolated from a variety of plants have shown potential in inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria, protozoans, and fungal strains, either by interfering with essential biochemical or physiological processes or by altering the permeability of biological membranes of invading organisms. Moreover, these molecules are active inhibitors of a range of proteases, including aspartic, serine, and cysteine types, with some showing particular efficacy as trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors. In this review, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the potential of plant-derived PPIs as novel antimicrobial molecules, highlighting their broad-spectrum antimicrobial efficacy, specificity, and minimal toxicity. These natural compounds exhibit diverse mechanisms of action and often multifunctionality, positioning them as promising molecular scaffolds for developing new therapeutic antibacterial agents.