Novel neuroprotective peptides derived from enzymatic hydrolysis of pea protein

Abstract The aim of this study was to purify and identify neuroprotective peptides derived from Flavourzyme ® -pea protein hydrolysate (FPPH). Cell viability of β-amyloid peptide (Aβ 1−42 )-induced oxidative damage in SH-SY5Y cells was used to explore neuroprotective effects of pretreating the cells with or without hydrolysate and its fractions. The higher cell viability represents the better neuroprotective effect. The hydrolysate was sequentially purified by gel filtration (GF) chromatography, reversed-phase (RP) chromatography and cation-exchange (CE) chromatography to explore any fraction to increase neuroprotective effects. The peptides were identified using a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometer (LC/MS/MS). Three novel neuroprotective peptides were obtained, and the amino acid sequences were NKFGKFF, GGPFKSPF and RPVLGGSSTFPYP. The in vitro effect of gastrointestinal proteases on neuroprotective effects of the three peptides were 23 also investigated. The result suggested that the gastrointestinal protease did 24 not affect neuroprotective effects of the three novel peptides, which reveal the 25 potential to ameliorate disease caused by neurodegeneration.