Exploring the salt taste-enhancing activity of key peptides and ultrafiltrated fractions from spent hen meat hydrolysate

Abstract

Excessive sodium intake induces high blood pressure related diseases. Salt taste-enhancing peptides (STEP) as a potential salt substitute have gained attention. We found that the spent hen hydrolysates obtained with flavourzyme (F-SHH) and papain (P-SHH) showed significant salt taste-enhancing activity (STEA). Identified peptides (AR, AD, DE, DEAQ, DH, DI, DR, DQ, DY, DW, ELDD, IDD, IEDM, LDD, VD, and VR) with significant STEA in hydrolysates had total concentrations of 2.02 × 10⁴ and 1.40 × 10⁴ μg/g for <3000 Da fractions of F-SHH and P-SHH, respectively, revealing that flavourzyme is more efficient for releasing STEP. AR exhibited the highest SETA, enhanced 21.5 % of the salt taste of 2.93 mg/mL NaCl solution. Both AR and VR dominate the STEA of hydrolysates. Primary sequence analysis suggested that Asp and Arg are crucial for peptides with high STEA. These findings could promote STEP development and application based on sustainable sources and methods in the food industry.

Keywords: Proteolysis; Quantum chemistry calculation; Salt taste-enhancing peptide; Sodium reduction; Spent hen; UPLC-MS/MS.