Resistant Protein: Forms and Functions

Abstract

Several global health risks are related to our dietary lifestyle. As a consequence of the overconsumption of ultra-processed and highly digestible protein (150–200% of the recommended value), excess dietary proteins reach the colon, are hydrolysed to peptides and amino acids by bacterial proteases and fermented to various potentially toxic end products. A diet reformulation strategy with reduced protein content in food products appears to be the most effective approach. A potential approach to this challenge is to reduce food digestibility by introducing resistant protein into the diet that could positively influence human health and gut microbiome functionality. Resistant protein is a dietary constituent not hydrolysed by digestive enzymes or absorbed in the human small intestine. The chemical conformation and the amino acid composition strictly influence its structural stability and resistance to in vivo proteolysis and denaturation. Responding to the important gap in our knowledge regarding the digestibility performance of alternative proteins, we hypothesise that resistant proteins can beneficially alter food functionality via their role in improving metabolic properties and health benefits in human nutrition, similar to fibres and resistant starches. A multidisciplinary investigation of resistant protein will generate tremendous scientific impact for other interlinked societal, economic, technological and health and wellbeing aspects of human life.

Hydrolysis of pea protein differentially modulates its effect on iron bioaccessibility, sulfur availability, composition and activity of gut microbial communities in vitro

“…Food & Function more convoluted in the context of legume proteins, where their affinity for iron is coupled with structures and regions that exhibit hydrolytic resistance against digestive enzymes and brush border amino peptidases. 28 Several legume proteins have been shown to inhibit fortified iron solubility, hence bioavailability, in vivo, 29,30 which are consistent with our findings from the native pea protein (PPI). This digestion-resistant fraction containing both legume protein and fortified iron reaches the lower gut, although their combined effects on colonic microbiome markers have been unexplored until this study.…”

Characterization and Stability of a Novel Toxin in Scallop Mantle Tissue

“…Several studies have reported that resistant proteins are resistant to digestive enzymes and behave as dietary fibers, similarly to cellulose, pectin, gum, and lignin [31,32]. Additionally, resistance proteins have been reported to influence the gut microbiota [18].…”