Bioactive peptides are well-known for their remarkable tissue affinity, specificity, and effectiveness in promoting health. Extracted from food proteins, these bioactive peptides have displayed significant potential as functional foods and nutraceuticals. Throughout the years, numerous potential bioactive peptides derived from food sources have been documented. These bioactive peptides offer a wide range of crucial functions within the human body, including acting as antioxidants, antimicrobial agents, anti-inflammatory compounds, anti-hypertensive substances, and immunomodulators. More recently, extensive research has been conducted to investigate the origins, bioavailability, potential physiological effects and functionality, as well as the mechanisms of action of bioactive peptides in rendering health benefits. Researchers have also delved into various technological methods for preparing, purifying, and characterizing these peptides. This contribution primarily centers on exploring the antioxidant and antimicrobial aspects of bioactive peptides.

Carotenoids are lipophilic natural pigments distributed in plants, certain types of algae, fungi and animals. The extensive conjugated double bond system in carotenoids is responsible for their unique color, antioxidant capacity and provide health benefits. However, the hydrophobic nature of carotenoids impacts their color and bioactivity during the development of food products due to their low solubility in aqueous media. The complexation of these molecules with proteins has proven to be an efficient approach for enhancing carotenoid’s solubility and protection against oxidative degradation and hence improving their functional properties and biological activities. This review compiles the molecular interactions between carotenoids and proteins, their physiological relevance, potential applications and characterization of their binding affinities, stabilities, and activities in terms of in-silico analysis and beyond. Overall, the deep understanding and interpretation of binding at the molecular level provide fundamental aspects for the inclusion of carotenoid bioactive compounds in fortified foods and pharmaceuticals.

Functional food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical applications of natural products have gained growing attention as there is increasingly awareness of the association between bioactive compounds and improved health. Recently, food and biomedical scientists have focused more on marine resources to isolate bioactives since the marine ecosystem comprises unexploited resources with a wide range of organisms. Marine species produce a wide range of natural products, such as polysaccharides, peptides, polyunsaturated lipids, phenolic compounds, and pigments, with unique structures and diverse biological activities due to their extreme living environments. These active molecules reduce the risk of chronic diseases and improve health by exhibiting antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anti-obesity, antihypertensive, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective activities. This review summarizes the recent discoveries of bioactive compounds from marine invertebrates (sponges, cnidarians, echinoderms, molluscs, ascidians, and crustaceans), fishes, seaweeds, and marine microorganisms and their potential for functional foods, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceuticals applications.

Bioactives are natural substances that may function as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticarcinogenic agents. They include phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and vitamins that can exert health-promoting effects. Conventional fruit processing (e.g., heat treatment) can negatively affect the content and possibly the integrity of bioactives in the source material. Meanwhile, non-conventional techniques, such as high pressure processing and pulsed electric field, may increase the extractability of bioactives from the food matrix and enhance their availability for intestinal absorption. Although berries are usually perceived as outstanding sources of antioxidants, other conventional fruits also stand out, such as apple, banana, grape, mango, and orange. Nevertheless, exotic fruits, such as Buriti, mamey, açaí, pitanga, camapu, and tucumã are less frequently consumed, even though they can provide relevant bioactives. Additionally, fruit processing generates by-products containing high-value bioactives that can re-enter the industry cycle while minimizing the quantity of waste generated. Future studies should further examine the potential of exotic fruits using their discarded portions. Thus, identifying the best techniques for their use and maximum phytochemical extraction would be essential to reducing their environmental impact. Additionally, novel functional foods and nutraceuticals can be obtained by exploring the bioactive potential of these feedstocks and their processing discards.

Chaga mushroom is a black perennial fungus that usually parasites on adult birch tree trunks. It has been conventionally used as a health-promoting supplement and nutraceutical in different cultures for centuries. The desired clarification of the profile of chaga secondary metabolites responsible for various bioactive properties has been continuously pursued for decades but has only partially been unveiled. Meanwhile, in recent years, attention to food safety, quality stability, authentication, and sustainability of chaga products from the wild has become increasingly popular in the current commercial market and related small/medium-size food industry enterprises. Phenolic, hydroxylated fatty acid, and terpenoid compounds produced by sclerotia of chaga mushrooms are bioactive constituents with antioxidant, anti-microorganism, and anti-tumor activities. Some new secondary metabolites of chaga mushroom have occasionally been reported previously, and effects of environment (e.g., cultivation method, harvesting region) on compositional characteristics noted. However, these have rarely and systematically compared the compositions of their material with a reliable database of known secondary metabolites of chaga. Therefore, this study aimed to achieve a rapid screening and characterization of secondary metabolites of Newfoundland chaga. A total of 111 phenolic, 63 fatty/aromatic acid, and 108 terpenoid constituents was primarily identified using HPLC-ToF-MS (high-performance liquid chromatograph coupled with time-of-flight mass spectra), among which 161 were newly reported. In addition, an update of the compositional database of chaga was provided as supplementary materials to help utilization and development of Newfoundland chaga mushroom as edible-fungi. Conclusively, chaga mushroom is a very promising food supplement abundant in numerous fungal secondary metabolites that were rarely found in other edible materials, even though its safety (e.g., oxalate content) aspects is still in need of additional investigation for being considered as a viable commercial nutraceutical.

Camelina seed meal was used to produce protein hydrolysates using Alcalase and Flavourzyme. The hydrolysates were then fractionated by employing ultrafiltration membranes (3, 10 kDa). The antioxidant activities of camelina protein hydrolysates and peptide fractions were investigated. The essential amino acid content of camelina protein isolates and hydrolysates was comparable and adequate. All camelina hydrolysates exhibited the highest radical scavenging activity in both DPPH and ABTS assay compared to camelina protein isolates. When comparing the overall DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity of peptide fractions, smaller-size peptides (< 3 kDa) displayed considerably higher values and hence more potency than larger-sized peptides (> 3 kDa). Peptide fractions with 3–10 kDa had better metal chelation and reducing power than those < 3 kDa and > 10 kDa. These findings suggest that camelina protein hydrolysates could be employed as bioactive ingredients in the formulation of functional foods and against oxidative stress.

Healthy food choices by consumers are dictated by several factors but most would like healthy and affordable supply. Of course, traditional foods that are familiar to the consumers and have the appropriate sensory characteristics are most desirable to enhance immunity. Cultural background of the consumers often dictates their food habits and availability of local foods, driven by economic factors, are important considerations. Food safety, sustainability and traceability along with regulatory issues are to be considered in order to use the opportunities to address various challenges.

Cereals are a staple food in the diets of many populations globally. Besides their nutritive function in food, they are also rich in various groups of bioactive compounds, especially polyphenols. Wheat, rice, barley, rye, oat, maize, millet, sorghum, and other cereal grains present a great variety of phenolic acids, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, alkylresorcinols, and lignans, which can be affected in many ways by the post-harvest treatments and further processing of these feedstocks. This review discusses up-to-date studies about the effects of common cereal processing techniques on their phenolic composition, biological activities, and bioefficiency. Generally, mild thermal and high-pressure treatments enhance cereals' phenolic composition by releasing the insoluble-bound fraction, which increases their bioaccessibility. On the other hand, processes involving extreme temperature conditions and removal of the grains' outer layers may drastically reduce the phenolic content. Therefore, it is imperative to optimize the processing conditions of cereals, so their health-promoting benefits are preserved.