Food-derived bioactive peptides (FBPs), particularly those with ten or fewer amino acid residues and a molecular weight below 1300 Da, have gained increasing attention for their safe, diverse structures and specific biological activities. The development of FBP-based functional foods and potential medications depends on understanding their structure‒activity relationships (SARs), stability, and bioavailability properties. In this review, we provide an in-depth overview of the roles of FBPs in treating various diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, liver diseases, and inflammatory bowel diseases, based on the literature from July 2017 to Mar. 2023. Subsequently, attention is directed toward elucidating the associations between the bioactivities and structural characteristics (e.g., molecular weight and the presence of specific amino acids within sequences and compositions) of FBPs. We also discuss in silico approaches for FBP screening and their limitations. Finally, we summarize recent advancements in formulation techniques to improve the bioavailability of FBPs in the food industry, thereby contributing to healthcare applications.
Humans ; Peptides/therapeutic use* ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Functional Food ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/drug therapy* ; Biological Availability ; Alzheimer Disease/drug therapy* ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/drug therapy* ; Hypertension/drug therapy* ; Liver Diseases/drug therapy* ; Bioactive Peptides, Dietary

Polysaccharides, a class of complex macromolecules, are distinguished by their diverse biological functions and essential role in functional foods. The distinctive biological activities of polysaccharides from medicine and food homology materials (MFPs), including immunomodulation, carbohydrate metabolism regulation, and lipid metabolism regulation properties, have attracted considerable scientific attention. The relationship between polysaccharides and gut microbiota is fundamental to human health, as polysaccharides demonstrate efficacy in ameliorating various conditions-from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to obesity and diabetes-through their influence on intestinal flora composition and diversity. Although polysaccharide research and applications show promise, significant challenges persist, particularly regarding extraction and purification methodologies, and the complete understanding of their biological mechanisms. Future investigations should prioritize understanding the correlation between polysaccharide structure and function, advancing large-scale production and application technologies, and establishing productive interdisciplinary collaborations. MFPs demonstrate significant potential for advancing sustainable development and human health, building upon current research findings. This paper presents a comprehensive review of global developments in the extraction, purification, structural characterization, biological activities, and applications of MFPs, emphasizing opportunities for scientific and technological innovations in specialized dietary food development.
Polysaccharides/isolation & purification* ; Humans ; Functional Food/analysis* ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/drug effects* ; Animals

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is the treasure of our culture, and TCM theory is the core of traditional Chinese medicine. Many of its concepts can be unified and balanced with modern functional food ideas. Even in ancient days, people had already found that medicine and food have the same source. Nowadays, homology between drug and food has been accepted widely. Astragali Radix and some other herbs have been used both as food and medicine, with a variety of bio-active substances, so such herbs can be used as characteristics resources to be developed into functional food. It's a combination of traditional medicine and modern ideas. Flavonoids, polysaccharides and saponins, the main compositions of Astragali Radix, can keep intestinal microenvironment homeostasis and human health by influencing the population structure, metabolism and intestinal cell function of intestinal flora. On the other hand, intestinal flora is also involved in the absorption, metabolism, transformation and other steps of these active ingredients in the body, which has an impact on their effectiveness and improves their bioavailability, playing an essential role in the relevant mechanism of their effectiveness. In this paper, we summarize the interaction between the above three functional ingredients in Astragali Radix and intestinal flora, sum up the interaction between these three functional ingredients of other homologous drugs and intestinal flora, provide a theoretical basis for the mechanism and application of functional food materials, and propose some suggestions and prospects for their future development.
Astragalus Plant ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Functional Food ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Alopecia ; Classification ; Diarrhea ; Female ; Functional Food ; Hair ; Hair Follicle ; Humans ; Leuconostoc ; Male ; Pilot Projects ; Probiotics ; Scalp ; Soybeans

In order to reveal the main nutrients and functional ingredients in the shoots of Polygonatum cyrtonema, the polysaccharides, proteins, amino acids, and total phenols were determined. The tested samples cultured in Ma'nijiaonong, Hengtang village, Tianmushan town, Lin'an, Zhejiang, which were collected from three provenances(Pan'an and Longquan in Zhejiang and Qingyang in Anhui). The results showed that the polysaccharide content of the shoots varied from 2.34% to 12.73%, roughly one-third of rhizomes. The protein content varied from 107.75 to 192.49 mg·g~(-1), nearly 5.50 times more than rhizomes. Moreover, the average of total amino acid content was 193.13-248.74 mg·g~(-1), approximately 4.16 times of rhizomes. And the essential amino acids account for 35.57%-39.44% of the total amino acids content, which was close to the standard of the ideal protein proposed by FAO/WHO(the essential amino acid/total amino acid is about 40%). In addition, the taste amino acids(TaAA) changed from 160.12 to 208.29 mg·g~(-1), revealing the material basis of "shoots were extremely delicious" in Chinese ancient herbal medicine. Additionally, the total phenols varied from 51.21-58.76 mg·g~(-1), about 2.96 times of rhizomes. The DPPH free radical scavenging rate of tested shoots was over 95%, which obviously superior to rhizomes. Therefore, the shoots of P. cyrtonema is a very high-quality vegetable and functional food with good development potential. Furthermore, the main nutrients and functional substances in P. cyrtonema shoots are closely related to the provenances and harvesting seasons. It is important to improve the quality and yield of the shoots by strengthening the variety of breeding and cultivation techniques.
Amino Acids, Essential/analysis* ; Functional Food ; Nutrients/analysis* ; Plant Proteins, Dietary/analysis* ; Plant Shoots/chemistry* ; Polygonatum/chemistry* ; Polysaccharides/analysis* ; Rhizome

PURPOSE: Upper respiratory tract infections are major causes of the common cold throughout the world. Cordyceps militaris (C. militaris) is a well-known functional food for its anti-fatigue and immunomodulating activities. On the other hand, there are no reports on the protective effect against upper respiratory tract infections (URI). This study was a 12 week randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trial in healthy volunteers. METHODS: A total of 100 subjects 20 ~ 70 years of age with a history of at least two colds in the year were enrolled in the study. The participants were required to record any adverse events and rate any cold-related incidents in a diary during the investigation period. The efficacy end point was the symptoms and incidence of URI, and changes in cytokines, IgA and natural killer (NK) cell activity. RESULTS: The Cordyceps militaris group over 12 weeks showed no significant impact on the incidence and symptomatology of URI compared to the placebo group. On the other hand, the experimental group showed significantly higher NK cell activity (p = 0.047) and IgA level (p = 0.035) compared to the placebo group. The NK-cell activity and IgA level were increased significantly by Cordyceps militaris over 12 weeks. CONCLUSION: The results suggest the possible beneficial immunomodulating effects, but the protective effects on URI could not be demonstrated under these conditions. Additional research will be needed to determine the efficacy and mechanisms of Cordyceps militaris function.
Adult ; Common Cold ; Cordyceps ; Cytokines ; Functional Food ; Hand ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; Incidence ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Respiratory Tract Infections

PURPOSE: Aster glehnii (AG) and Aster yomena (AY) are medicinal plants that belong to the family Compositea and grow widely in Korea. Plants in the genus Aster have been used to treat snakebite wounds or bruises in oriental medicine. This study compared the effects of anti-oxidants and anti-adipocyte differentiation according to the species (the aerial parts of AG and AY). METHODS: AG and AY were extracted using 70% ethanol (−E) and water (−W) at room temperature. The anti-oxidant activities were measured by total phenol contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC), DPPH and ABTS+ assay. In addition, correlation analysis was performed for the anti-oxidant compounds and effect. The level of anti-adipocyte differentiation was assessed using an oil red O assay on pre-adipocytes. RESULTS: AG-W showed higher TPC (6.92 µg/mL) and AG-E presented higher TFC (8.22 µg/mL) than the other extracts. Furthermore, AG-E exhibited higher radical scavenging activity in the DPPH and ABTS+ assay (IC50: 104.88 and 30.06 µg/mL). In the cytotoxicity assay, AG and AY extracts at concentrations less than 100µg/mL were non toxic. AG-W reduced the lipid accumulation of 3T3-L1 cells significantly after differentiation (70.49%) compared to the other extracts. CONCLUSION: These results show that the water extract of AG has anti-oxidant effects and reduces the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells. Therefore, AG has utility as a functional food material for its anti-oxidant activities and ability to prevent lipid accumulation.
3T3-L1 Cells ; Adipocytes ; Antioxidants ; Contusions ; Ethanol ; Functional Food ; Humans ; Korea ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Phenol ; Plants, Medicinal ; Snake Bites ; Water ; Wounds and Injuries

PURPOSE: Sprouts of evening primrose (Oenothera laciniata, OL) were reported to have high contents of flavonoids and potent antioxidant activity. This study examined the antioxidant and antiobesity activities of OL sprouts to determine if they could be a natural health-beneficial resource preventing obesity and oxidative stress.METHODS: OL sprouts were extracted with 50% ethanol, evaporated, and lyophilized (OLE). The in vitro antioxidant activity of OLE was examined using four different tests. The antiobesity activity and in vivo antioxidant activity from OLE consumption were examined using high fat diet-induced obese (DIO) C57BL/6 mice.RESULTS: The IC₅₀ for the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activities of OLE were 26.2 µg/mL and 327.6 µg/mL, respectively. OLE exhibited the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) activity of 56.7 µg ascorbic acid eq./mL at 100 µg/mL, and an increased glutathione level by 65.1% at 200 µg/mL compared to the control in the hUC-MSC stem cells. In an animal study, oral treatment with 50 mg or 100 mg of OLE/kg body weight for 14 weeks reduced the body weight gain, visceral fat content, fat cell size, blood leptin, and triglyceride levels, as well as the atherogenic index compared to the high fat diet control group (HFC) (p < 0.05). The blood malondialdehyde (MDA) level and the catalase and SOD-1 activities in adipose tissue were reduced significantly by the OLE treatment compared to HFC as well (p < 0.05). In epididymal adipose tissue, the OLE treatment reduced the mRNA expression of leptin, PPAR-γ and FAS significantly (p < 0.05) compared to HFC while it increased adiponectin expression (p < 0.05).CONCLUSION: OLE consumption has potent antioxidant and antiobesity activities via the suppression of oxidative stress and lipogenesis in DIO mice. Therefore, OLE could be a good candidate as a natural resource to develop functional food products that prevent obesity and oxidative stress.
Adipocytes ; Adipokines ; Adiponectin ; Adipose Tissue ; Animals ; Ascorbic Acid ; Body Weight ; Catalase ; Diet, High-Fat ; Ethanol ; Flavonoids ; Functional Food ; Glutathione ; In Vitro Techniques ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Leptin ; Lipogenesis ; Malondialdehyde ; Mice ; Mice, Obese ; Natural Resources ; Obesity ; Oenothera biennis ; Oxidative Stress ; RNA, Messenger ; Stem Cells ; Superoxide Dismutase ; Triglycerides

Policosanol extracted from sugarcane wax is a generic term used for total fatty alcohols obtained from esterification of fatty acids. It has been approved as a health functional food by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea in 2006. Policosanol is well-known to aid in lowering blood cholesterol level. Recently, several studies have reported the physiological activities of policosanol, such as anti-inflammatory effects, antioxidant effects, and lowering of the incidence of ageing-related diseases, for example, hypertension, stroke, among others. This review describes the physiological activities of policosanol and its applications in the field of health functional foods.
Antioxidants ; Cholesterol ; Esterification ; Fatty Acids ; Fatty Alcohols ; Functional Food ; Hypertension ; Incidence ; Korea ; Saccharum ; Stroke

At present,the function evaluation of health food containing Chinese materia medica is in lack of theoretical support of Chinese medicine,which can't reflect the function characteristics,dose-effect relationship and mechanism of functional food. What' s more,the evaluation technology of health food containing Chinese materia medica is relatively lagging behind and has been abolished now,which seriously restricts the development of health food containing Chinese materia medica industry. The proportion of health food containing Chinese materia medica with enhancing immune function is the highest among approved products,which is up to 30.33%. By collecting,analyzing and digging the current evaluation situation of enhancing immune function of health food containing Chinese materia medica,this paper has shown that there is no difference between health food containing Chinese materia medica evaluation and other functional food evaluation. What's more,there is a lack of characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). The technological means including evaluation of immune active substances is under-developed and the immune cell evaluation needs to be refined and improved urgently,restricting the development of health food containing Chinese materia medica industry. Therefore,the evaluation of the enhanced immune function of health food containing Chinese materia medica should be guided by health-preserving theory in TCM,and based on the identification of TCM constitution for its claim of health function. With TCM theory and modern scientific technological means,a new evaluation model for immune function enhancement of health food containing Chinese materia medica is put forward to distinguish it from other functional food and traditional medicines. Formulation of the evaluation technology and technical specifications suitable for health food containing Chinese materia medica can fundamentally ensure the healthy,orderly,fast and sustainable development of health food containing Chinese materia medica industry.
Functional Food ; Humans ; Immune System ; Materia Medica ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Research Design ; Technology