Revealing the Potential of Bioactive Peptides from Sheep Milk Casein and Whey: An In-silico Exploration

Sheep casein and whey proteins, α-lactalbumin, β-lactalbumin, and β-lactoglobulin 1/B, are good sources of bioactive peptides that have potential health benefits including antimicrobial, antioxidant, antihypertensive, and immunomodulatory activities. The following paper discusses the in-silico analysis of these proteins retrieved from the UniProtKB database, with emphasis on their amino acid compositions and the bioactive peptides formed after hydrolysis with pepsin and trypsin. Their physicochemical properties, bioactivity, and allergenicity were determined by the use of sophisticated bioinformatics tools. One of the interesting findings includes their inhibition activity against dipeptidyl peptidase IV, which might be of great importance in the management of type 2 diabetes. The allergenicity predictions where a mixed bag as some peptides had the potential to be flagged as allergens due to the similarities in their sequence with the proteins in bovine milk. Others were predicted to be nonallergenic and safer for further use. The results suggest that bioactive peptides from sheep could potentially be used in food and pharmaceutical applications, although the need for further experimental validation, especially on safety, is critical. In-silico approaches provide an efficient and cost-effective means for screening peptides.