Simulated gastro-intestinal digestion is widely employed in many fields of food and nutritional sciences, as conducting human trials are often costly, resource intensive, and ethically disputable. As a consequence, in vitro alternatives that determine endpoints such as the bioaccessibility of nutrients and non-nutrients or the digestibility of macronutrients (e.g. lipids, proteins and carbohydrates) are used for screening and building new hypotheses. Various digestion models have been proposed, often impeding the possibility to compare results across research teams. For example, a large variety of enzymes from different sources such as of porcine, rabbit or human origin have been used, differing in their activity and characterization. Differences in pH, mineral type, ionic strength and digestion time, which alter enzyme activity and other phenomena, may also considerably alter results. Other parameters such as the presence of phospholipids, individual enzymes such as gastric lipase and digestive emulsifiers vs. their mixtures (e.g. pancreatin and bile salts), and the ratio of food bolus to digestive fluids, have also been discussed at length. In the present consensus paper, within the COST Infogest network, we propose a general standardised and practical static digestion method based on physiologically relevant conditions that can be applied for various endpoints, which may be amended to accommodate further specific requirements. A frameset of parameters including the oral, gastric and small intestinal digestion are outlined and their relevance discussed in relation to available in vivo data and enzymes. This consensus paper will give a detailed protocol and a line-by-line, guidance, recommendations and justifications but also limitation of the proposed model. This harmonised static, in vitro digestion method for food should aid the production of more comparable data in the future.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01209876/document

A standardised static in vitro digestion method suitable for food – an international consensus

Here, we review what is known about the microorganisms present in raw milk, including milk from cows, sheep, goats and humans. Milk, due to its high nutritional content, can support a rich microbiota. These microorganisms enter milk from a variety of sources and, once in milk, can play a number of roles, such as facilitating dairy fermentations (e.g. Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Propionibacterium and fungal populations), causing spoilage (e.g. Pseudomonas, Clostridium, Bacillus and other spore-forming or thermoduric microorganisms), promoting health (e.g. lactobacilli and bifidobacteria) or causing disease (e.g. Listeria, Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter and mycotoxin-producing fungi). There is also concern that the presence of antibiotic residues in milk leads to the development of resistance, particularly among pathogenic bacteria. Here, we comprehensively review these topics, while comparing the approaches, both culture-dependent and culture-independent, which can be taken to investigate the microbial composition of milk.

The complex microbiota of raw milk

Bioactive peptides: A review

Enzymes as industrial biocatalysts offer numerous advantages over traditional chemical processes with respect to sustainability and process efficiency. Enzyme catalysis has been scaled up for commercial processes in the pharmaceutical, food and beverage industries, although further enhancements in stability and biocatalyst functionality are required for optimal biocatalytic processes in the energy sector for biofuel production and in natural gas conversion. The technical barriers associated with the implementation of immobilized enzymes suggest that a multidisciplinary approach is necessary for the development of immobilized biocatalysts applicable in such industrial-scale processes. Specifically, the overlap of technical expertise in enzyme immobilization, protein and process engineering will define the next generation of immobilized biocatalysts and the successful scale-up of their induced processes. This review discusses how biocatalysis has been successfully deployed, how enzyme immobilization can improve industrial processes, as well as focuses on the analysis tools critical for the multi-scale implementation of enzyme immobilization for increased product yield at maximum market profitability and minimum logistical burden on the environment and user.

Industrial Applications of Enzymes: Recent Advances, Techniques, and Outlooks

Industrial-scale manufacturing of pharmaceutical-grade bioactive peptides.

Bioprocess challenges to the isolation and purification of bioactive peptides

There are emerging advancements in the strategies used for the discovery and development of food-derived bioactive peptides because of their multiple food and health applications. Bioinformatics and peptidomics are two computational and analytical techniques that have the potential to speed up the development of bioactive peptides from bench to market. Structure–activity relationships observed in peptides form the basis for bioinformatics and in silico prediction of bioactive sequences encrypted in food proteins. Peptidomics, on the other hand, relies on “hyphenated” (liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry-based) techniques for the detection, profiling, and quantitation of peptides. Together, bioinformatics and peptidomics approaches provide a low-cost and effective means of predicting, profiling, and screening bioactive protein hydrolysates and peptides from food. This article discuses the basis, strengths, and limitations of bioinformatics and peptidomics approaches currently used for the discovery and analysis of food-derived bioactive peptides.

Bioinformatics and peptidomics approaches to the discovery and analysis of food-derived bioactive peptides

Bioactive peptides from food proteins have been studied over the past decade to elucidate their biological potency in the major systems of the body such as the digestive, cardiovascular, nervous, and immune systems. Some bioactive peptides have been established for their antimicrobial roles as well as humoral and cell-mediated immune functions and thus have prospects of being incorporated as ingredients in functional foods, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals where their biological activities may assist in the control and prevention of diseases. However, further insightful research on the pharmacokinetics of immunomodulatory peptides in vivo and clinical studies are needed to firmly establish their therapeutic potency.

Rethinking food-derived bioactive peptides for antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities

Today, the inevitability of cross-disciplinary research as the single most important current trend across various research groups worldwide is plausible. Though thought about years ago, the impact has grown exponentially only in recent times and slowly but surely, the entire research community is accepting interdisciplinary research to be the need of the hour to explain complex findings. This technical note looks at the trends and also explains the nature of involvement of multiple research areas with a case study of synthesis of bioactive peptides.

Dominic Agyei

Papers

Industrial-scale manufacturing of pharmaceutical-grade bioactive peptides.

Bioprocess challenges to the isolation and purification of bioactive peptides

Bioinformatics and peptidomics approaches to the discovery and analysis of food-derived bioactive peptides

Rethinking food-derived bioactive peptides for antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities

The quintessential research world is progressively interdisciplinary