Deciphering the gastrointestinal fate of four heat-treated legume proteins: Focus on digestive characteristics and peptide profiles

Qiqian Feng; Jinquan Lin; Hao Ran; Yang Yao; Fen Zhao; Yuanlin Sun; Fang Zhong; Sumei Zhou; Dianzhi Hou

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.145522

Deciphering the gastrointestinal fate of four heat-treated legume proteins: Focus on digestive characteristics and peptide profiles

Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Jun 25;319(Pt 2):145522. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.145522. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Qiqian Feng¹, Jinquan Lin¹, Hao Ran¹, Yang Yao², Fen Zhao¹, Yuanlin Sun³, Fang Zhong⁴, Sumei Zhou¹, Dianzhi Hou⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Geriatric Nutrition and Health (Beijing Technology and Business University), Ministry of Education, School of Food and Health, Beijing 100048, China.
² Key Laboratory of Grain Crop Genetic Resources Evaluation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
³ Shanxi Technology Innovation Center of High Value-added Echelon Utilization of Premium Agro-products, Department of Life Sciences, Yuncheng University, Yuncheng 044011, China. Electronic address: sylwts@aliyun.com.
⁴ School of Food Science and Technology, State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Geriatric Nutrition and Health (Beijing Technology and Business University), Ministry of Education, School of Food and Health, Beijing 100048, China. Electronic address: houdianzhi@btbu.edu.cn.

PMID: 40578635
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.145522

Abstract

Legume proteins, as quintessential representatives of plant proteins, are important nutrient sources. However, the distinction in the gastrointestinal fate of legume proteins from different sources remains unclear, which limits their precise application in functional foods. This study investigated the digestive characteristics of four legume proteins, including black soybean protein (BSP), mung bean protein (MBP), white kidney bean protein (WKP), and faba bean protein (FBP) after heat treatment (95 °C for 15 min). BSP showed the lowest degree of hydrolysis (20.94 %), whereas FBP displayed the highest (35.98 %). High contents of low molecular weight fractions (81.66 %) and free amino acids (14,781.00 mg/100 g) were observed in the digestion products of MBP. Secondary structure variations significantly influenced the digestive behavior of the proteins. The elevated β-sheet content (58.76 %) in BSP was identified as the primary factor contributing to its poor digestibility. Besides, BSP exhibited the highest number (583) and percentage of bioactive peptides (30.93 %). These findings imply that MBP and FBP exhibited enhanced digestibility, while BSP demonstrated a remarkable bioactive potential. In this study, the digestive properties among four legume proteins were innovatively compared, which provides support for the nutritional quality evaluation of legume proteins and their application in the food industry.

Keywords: Bioactive peptides; In vitro digestion; Legume proteins.