Antihypertensive activities of enzymatic hydrolysates from honeybee-collected pollen of Cistus ladaniferus

Author: Takeshi Nagai ^1*, Reiji Inoue ², Nobutaka Suzuki ³, Yasuhiro Tanoue ⁴, Norihisa Kai ⁴ and Toshio Nagashima ¹

Received 19 April 2007, accepted 12 July 2007.

Abstract

Enzymatic hydrolysates from honeybee-collected pollen of Cistus ladaniferus prepared by six proteases and angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activities were investigated. The yields of hydrolysates were fairly high, about 34-60%, and large amounts of proteins were contained in these hydrolysates. The activities of these hydrolysates were extremely high, similar to various fermented foods such as fish sauce, mirin, sake, soy sauce, vinegar, cheese, miso, natto, and so on. These results suggest it is expected the higher ACE inhibitory activities in hydrolysates from honeybee-collected pollen of Cistus ladaniferus in the body system. That is, it can fully absorb the useful components from pollen to digest using the gastrointestinal enzymes such as pepsin and trypsin. The present study indicates that honeybee-collected pollen peptides can be applied to various fields of functional foods and medicine.