Animal and Plant Proteins as Precursors of Peptides with ACE Inhibitory Activity – An in silico Strategy of Protein Evaluation

This paper presents a modern in silico approach useful in the evaluation of proteins as a source of ACE inhibitors. All protein sequences analyzed were derived from the BIOPEP database. To determine the protein value, the following criteria of evaluation were applied: the profile of potential biological (ACE inhibitory) activity of a protein, the frequency of the occurrence of fragments with ACE inhibitory activity (A) and the potential biological activity of a protein (B). The results, based on a statistical analysis, indicate that milk proteins can be a better source of ACE inhibitors than wheat gliadins. Moreover, all analyzed gliadins possessed more potent ACE inhibitors than chicken meat proteins. No significant differences were observed when comparing A values between soy globulins and b-lactoglobulins. Although criteria such as the profile of potential biological activity of protein, as well as parameters A and B, can be suitable tools in protein evaluation, the proteolytic digestion of protein needs to be considered. Moreover, computerised methods of classifying proteins according to different algorithms are often subjective due to discretion in interpretation of the results.