Bioactive peptides and protein hydrolysates: research trends and challenges for application as nutraceuticals and functional food ingredients

•Systematic design of experiments to optimize bioactive peptide production.•Empirical and bioinformatics complementary approaches to bioactive peptide discovery.•Complexity of methodology for quality assurance of bioactive peptide products.•Research needs for evidence of bioavailability and clinical efficacy.•Bitter taste and approaches for evaluating and debittering peptide products.

The past decade has seen a burgeoning of literature on food-derived peptides and protein hydrolysates with diverse biological activities, but to date, empirical and bioinformatics studies have provided primarily in vitro data and limited clinical evidence to justify the development of these bioactive peptides and hydrolysates as nutraceuticals and functional foods for promoting health. Several obstacles must be overcome on the road to commercialization of these products. In conjunction with the need to implement efficient and cost-effective strategies for industrial scale production, the successful transfer of the technology to market requires standardization of analytical methods for assurance of product quality, assessment of sensory properties for consumer acceptance, and most importantly, well-designed clinical trials to provide robust evidence for supporting health claims.