Animal- and Plant-Derived Proteins and Peptides: Valorization, Structure-Function Relationships, Engineering and Nutritional Merit

Protein products with good flavor properties, ease of consumption, and nutritional/health benefits are becoming a new trend in food consumption. Extensive intake of these animal-/plant-derived proteins significantly contributes to the energy storage and regulation of various cellular responses after gastrointestinal digestion and absorption. Moreover, various physical/chemical/microbial modification methods in vitro have been used to enhance or produce bioactivities based on these food proteins, e.g., alleviate food allergenicity, prevent type 2 diabetes, inhibit cardiovascular disease, and against other pathogenic factors provoked by cellular oxidative damage. The demand for new and alternative protein products is increasing due to the increasing global population, environmentally friendly awareness, growing need for vegetarian products, etc. More structural investigations should be adopted to verify the integral role of animal/plant protein resources in macro-/micro-nutrient availability and the development potential of reformulated muscle-like foods (emulsion/gels, 3D-printing) which usually require excellent storage and biodegradation stability against environmental stimuli. Additionally, the differences in digestion in vivo and changes in gut microbiota and host also greatly influence the final bioactivity of these food-derived proteins.

This Research Topic aims to collect research into current and novel animal-/plant-derived protein/hydrolysate and peptide (derivates) and their promising functional, engineering-designed, and nutritional benefits through varying physical/chemical modifications and enzymatic approaches. Furthermore, we would like to present reliable, advanced, and innovative methodologies being used to obtain critical information about the evaluation of structure-activity relationships, functional properties, and omics-bioinformatics principles of fabricated protein/peptide. We particularly expect research on potential food protein/peptide biomaterials that would inspire new insights into these molecular machines and their tailored applications in the functional fermentation and colloid industries.

We welcome submissions of original research and (mini-) reviews with the following topics:

· Innovative extraction and preparation methodologies for animal/plant proteins/hydrolysates with reliable characterization on isolated products, including those from meat, seafood, milk, eggs, lentils, peas, soybean, etc.;

· Sufficient analytical and/or advanced computational approaches following structural studies and/or omics strategies: liquid and gas chromatography, spectrometry, spectroscopy, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), chemometrics, machine learning, molecular dynamic simulation/molecular docking, other in silico methods;

· (Nano) Fibrils products with network structure functionalization of proteins/peptides using food-mixed solutions and interfacial engineering (emulsion/gels, foam system), focusing on the developed nanoparticle-driven pharmaceutical formulations to improve functional properties;

· (In situ) Food protein digestomics and peptidomics research and their functional/nutritional assessment, explore the relationship between dietary intake/patterns of protein composition and the regulation of functional factors by cellular/animal model and/or gut microbiota response;

· Novel discovery strategy of functional foods proteins/peptides ingredients with illustration on structure-activity relationship, particularly the studies using modification methods considering noncovalent and/or covalent interactions (pH-shifting treatment, free-radical grafting, and enzymatic utilization);

· 3D-bioprinting of functional foods and biobased products using food proteins with sustainable biomaterials/ingredients.