Functional and health-promoting bioactivities of fractions derived from chicken embryo hydrolysates

Abstract

Hen eggs are rich in proteins, which are a potential source of bioactive peptides. Incubation of fertilized egg changes the egg protein, which may affect the properties and activity of derived peptides. To understand these metamorphoses, hydrolysate fractions of 10-day incubated chicken embryo (CE) proteins of 0.2 μm, 10 kDa and 3 kDa were obtained and studied. Acid-enzymatic hydrolysis effectively transformed CE proteins into hydrolysis products (≥ 60 %), with yield of ≤3 kDa fraction = 93.7 %. Hydrolysate fractions were studied for their physicochemical properties and biological activity. 10-kDa peptides showed high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, as well as antimutagenic and antimicrobial effects. They were not cytotoxic to CE fibroblasts and did not stimulate the growth of HeLa and Vero cultures. β-cyclodextrin conjugated 10-kDa peptides demonstrated wound-healing efficacy in rats. The results open up new prospects for using the CE hydrolysate in food and pharmaceutical products.