Whey proteins present encrypted biofunctional peptides that need to be released from the native protein to exert their biological activity. Antihypertensive whey peptides are the most studied ones, which can be explained by high prevalence of this chronic degenerative disease. The present study investigated whether the molecular changes occurred during the gastrointestinal digestion of a whey protein hydrolysate could modulate its vasorelaxant potential in rat aortic rings. Spectrophotometric data and SDS-PAGE gel showed a small degree of hydrolysis during the gastric phase and intense intestinal proteolysis. RP-HPLC revealed the formation of a large peptide profile. During the simulated digestion, 198 were generated and identified and, left-shifted the concentration-response curve of the endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation, as recorded for the digested hydrolysates. In conclusion, gastrointestinal digestion of the whey hydrolysate leads to the generation of bioactive peptides with enhanced vasodilatory potency, reinforcing the relevance of whey-derived products in blood pressure regulation.

乳清蛋白具有加密的生物功能肽，需要从天然蛋白中释放出来才能发挥其生物活性。降压乳清肽是研究最多的肽，可以用这种慢性退行性疾病的高流行率来解释。本研究调查了乳清蛋白水解产物在胃肠道消化过程中是否发生了分子变化，可以调节其在大鼠主动脉环中的血管舒张潜力。分光光度数据和SDS-PAGE凝胶显示在胃期有少量水解和强烈的肠蛋白水解。RP-HPLC显示形成大的肽谱。在模拟消化过程中，产生并鉴定了198个，将依赖于内皮的血管舒张的浓度-响应曲线左移，记录为消化的水解产物。总而言之，乳清水解产物的胃肠道消化导致产生具有增强的血管扩张能力的生物活性肽，从而增强了乳清衍生产品在血压调节中的相关性。