Meat protein based bioactive peptides and their potential functional activity: a review

Summary Bioactive peptides are the general name for the short amino acid sequences, which could be generated from the hydrolysis of parent proteins including beef, pork, mutton, chicken, duck and various species of marine organisms. Drying, curing, ripening and fermentation are particular procedures for meat flavour and also important for the releasing of bioactive peptides from parent proteins. Once being released, the peptides would play bioactive roles beyond their nutritional values. The physiological activities of meat‐derived peptides have been demonstrated to have antioxidative, antihypertensive, antimicrobial, opioid, antithrombotic and other bioactive effects. The regulation on immunological, gastrointestinal and neurological responses of those bioactive peptides supplies a vital base for the prevention of hypertension, obesity, diabetes and other metabolic disorders. In this review, we summarised the current studies on meat derived bioactive peptides along with their physiological functions to supply the overall understanding of the health benefit of bioactive peptides.