Chicken slaughterhouse by-products: A source of protein hydrolysates to manage non-communicable diseases

The poultry industry is a growing livestock sector, which generates large volumes of by-products with negative environmental impacts that must be revalorized. Modern lifestyles have contributed to a significant increase in the incidence of non-communicable diseases worldwide. Thus, many efforts have been made to identify novel agents with biological activities. In this regard, chicken slaughterhouse by-products are interesting materials because of their protein content, which can be subjected to proteolytic procedures to obtain bioactive peptides. This review focuses on the valorization of chicken slaughterhouse by-products as a source of functional protein hydrolysates and peptides; specifically, it reviews the potential of these compounds to manage non-communicable diseases and the mechanisms involved. Hydrolysates obtained from chicken slaughterhouse by-products have antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulant, anti-anaemic, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, and neuroprotective properties, as well as the ability to manage body weight and lipid metabolism. Antioxidant and antihypertensive effects were the activities most studied in both in vitro and in vivo; however, only a chicken leg-derived hydrolysate was tested in humans, demonstrating its blood pressure-lowering effects. The obtained results are promising enough to encourage further research to explore the versatility of chicken by-products as a source of bioactive peptides.