Bioactive Peptides in Human Health and Disease

Dear Colleagues, 

Dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle are widely established to be the major risk factors for the development of long-term chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, type-2 diabetes and cancer. In this framework, where consumer’s food choices are even more influenced by an ever-growing awareness on nutritional, environmental, and healthy aspects, the presence and identification of natural bioactive compounds are gaining increasing attention in the scientific community.

In recent years, scientific interest in bioactive peptides and their potential health benefits are greatly increased within the framework of health-promoting functional foods. The search for bioactive peptides has expanded exponentially due to the increased incidence of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Bioactive peptides showed different bio-functional properties and they can be used as additional components in functional foods, nutraceuticals, food-grade bio-preservatives, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. They may have important physiological functions, such as anti-hypertensive, anti-microbial, anti-thrombotic, immunomodulatory, opioid, antioxidant, and mineral binding activities.

This Special Issue, entitled “Bioactive Peptides in Human Health and Disease”, aims to collect research and review papers focusing on several aspects that are related to bioactive peptides and human health, including their in vitro and in vivo role in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, bioaccessibility and bioavailability, release and biological characterization of novel bioactive peptides, and in vitro mechanistic studies.

Dr. Serena Martini
Prof. Dr. Davide Tagliazucchi
Guest Editors

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