Enhancement of angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitory activity and improvement of the emulsifying and foaming properties of corn gluten hydrolysate using ultrafiltration membranes

In this study, we attempted to enhance angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity using an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane and to improve the emulsifying and foaming properties of fractions. ACE inhibitory activities of the corn gluten hydrolysate prepared by Flavourzyme had the same trend as protein contents and the IC₅₀ value was 0.18 mg solid after 8 h hydrolysis. The hydrolysate was separated by using two kinds of UF membrane (10 and 5 kDa cut-off membranes) and three fractions, >10 kDa, 5-10 kDa, and <5 kDa, were obtained. The yields of these three fractions were 58.3%, 27.2% and 14.5% as dry matter, respectively. The IC₅₀ value (the concentration of ACE inhibitor required to inhibit 50% of the ACE activity under specific conditions) of the <5 kDa fraction was 0.05 mg solid and was approximately fourfold that of the original, 5-10, and >10 kDa fractions. The average hydrophobicity of the <5 kDa fraction was slightly lower than that of the others according to the hydrophobicity index of Nozaki and Tanford, but according to the Krigbaum and Meirovitch index, that of the <5 kDa fraction was slightly higher than those of the others, showing there might be no significant differences among the fractions. The emulsifying activity and emulsion stability in the <5 kDa fraction was higher than those in the other fractions. Two fractions, <5 kDa and >10 kDa, showed poor foaming capacity at below pH 6.0. The foam stabilities of two fractions (<5 kDa and >10 kDa) increased with increasing pH, but that of 5-10 kDa decreased with increasing pH. The UF treatment was an effective method for the enhancement of ACE inhibitory activity with improvement of functional properties.