The aim of this work was to compare the antioxidant and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory properties of Moringa oleifera seed protein isolate (ISO) and its enzymatic protein hydrolysates. ISO was subjected to enzymatic (alcalase, pepsin and trypsin) hydrolysis to obtain alcalase isolate, pepsin isolate and trypsin isolate hydrolysates (AIH, PIH, TIH). Amino acid composition was similar for the samples except that TIH had lower Sulphur-containing amino acids while PIH was lower in tryptophan. All the samples were tested for antioxidant properties through free radical scavenging abilities such as 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical scavenging assays as well as ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and metal ion chelation assays. The maximum percentage inhibition obtained for the samples from the different assays are: DPPH, 36% (PIH); FRAP, 0.04% (PIH); hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, 42.98% (ISO); and inhibition of metal ion chelation, 29.46% (AIH). AIH (79.3%) had the highest ACE-inhibitory activity followed by TIH (75.1%) while PIH (43.0%) had the least. Generally, the hydrolysis process produced hydrolysates with improved antioxidant and ACE-inhibitory properties when compared to the isolate. We conclude that enzymatic hydrolysis with alcalase, pepsin and trypsin may be used to produce M. oleifera seed protein hydrolysates with potential to be used as ingredients for the formulation of functional foods and nutraceuticals.

Probiotics offer remarkable potential for the prevention and management of various infective and noninfective disorders. They are reported to play key roles in the suppression of gastrointestinal infections, antimicrobial activity, improvement in lactose metabolism, reduction in serum cholesterol, immune system stimulation, antimutagenic properties, anticarcinogenic properties, anti-diarrheal properties, and improvement in inflammatory bowel disease. Although probiotic foods are classically confined to beverages and cheese, containing live organisms of the lactic acid bacteria family, such health-promoting foods are traditionally dairy-based, comprising milk and its fermented products. However, recent research focuses on the probiotic potentials of fermented cereal-based beverages which are especially consumed in developing countries characterized by low nutritional security and high incidence of gut pathogen infections. Moreover, lactose intolerance and cholesterol content associated with dairy products, coupled with the vegetarian tendencies of diverse populations in the third world, tend to enforce the recent recourse to nondairy beverages. Probiotic microorganisms are mostly of human or animal origin; however, strains recognized as probiotics are also found in nondairy fermented substrates. This review examines the potentials of some traditional cereal-based beverages to serve as probiotic foods, their microbial and functional properties, as well as their process optimization and storage for enhanced utilization.

Legumes are rich sources of protein in human diet and their consumption has been associated with the prevention of chronic diseases attributable to their bioactive components. Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) is an underutilized legume with relatively high protein content (~24%). Protein hydrolysates were prepared from pea isolate by enzymatic hydrolysis using pepsin and pancreatin. Hydrolysates were evaluated for their amino acid composition, antioxidant properties, in vitro and in vivo antihypertensive properties. The hydrolysates had high hydrophobic amino acids, especially isoleucine, phenylalanine, and leucine. Pepsin‐pancreatin‐hydrolyzed pea protein (PPHPp) showed significantly higher ability to scavenge DPPH˙ while pancreatin‐hydrolyzed pea protein (PPHPa) had higher ˙OH, ABTS˙⁺ scavenging, Fe³⁺ reducing and linoleic acid peroxidation inhibition. PPHPp exhibited superior angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibition (61.82%) while PPHPa showed higher renin inhibition (14.28%). PPHPp exhibited strong antihypertensive effect, showing an instantaneous systolic blood pressure lowering effect (−26.12 mmHg) within 2‐h post‐oral administration. Pigeon pea protein hydrolysate (especially from pancreatin digest) could therefore, be a promising source of bioactive peptides and potential ingredient for formulation of functional foods against oxidative stress and hypertension.