Abstrakt
The antioxidant properties of low-molecular-weight peptides (<3.5 kDa) obtained from the dry-cured pork loins inoculated with probiotic and potentially probiotic lactic acid bacterial strains were tested after two-stage enzymatic hydrolysis under in vitro conditions. The water soluble fraction (WSF) was found to be a better substrate for enzymatic hydrolysis by proteolytic enzymes, especially when they were extracted from the meat product after 12 months of ageing. Furthermore, protein hydrolysates extracted from the salt soluble fraction (SSF) exhibited better or similar ABTS free radical scavenging activity and Fe2+-chelating activity than those extracted from WSF (despite their less quantity). Moreover, both SSF and WSF exhibited weak ferric-reducing antioxidant activity after two-step enzymatic hydrolysis (A700 averaged 0.138 for the WSF and 0.088 for the SSF). These results might be useful to the meat-processing industry in developing innovative and functional meat products.