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Dry-cured ham bones -- a source of heart-healthy peptides?

Date:
January 16, 2019
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Drinking bone broth is a recent diet fad that proponents claim fights inflammation, eases joint pain and promotes gut health. Simmering animal bones in water releases collagen and other proteins into the broth that may have health benefits, although more research is needed to validate these claims. Now, a new study has shown that ham bones contain peptides that could have cardioprotective effects.
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Drinking bone broth is a recent diet fad that proponents claim fights inflammation, eases joint pain and promotes gut health. Simmering animal bones in water releases collagen and other proteins into the broth that may have health benefits, although more research is needed to validate these claims. Now, a new study in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has shown that ham bones contain peptides that could have cardioprotective effects.

During cooking and digestion, proteins from animal bones can be broken down into smaller pieces, or peptides, that have different properties than the intact protein. For example, some peptides from collagen act as antioxidants or inhibitors of disease-related enzymes. To see if Spanish dry-cured ham bones could be a source of beneficial peptides, Leticia Mora and colleagues ground up the bones and simulated conditions of cooking and human digestion. Then, they examined whether the bone samples could block the activities of several enzymes involved in cardiovascular disease.

The researchers found that the bone peptides, most of which were derived from collagen and hemoglobin proteins, inhibited the enzymes even after heating and simulated digestion. In fact, these treatments released additional bioactive peptides, suggesting that the use of ham bones to make broths and stews could have a positive impact on cardiovascular health.


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Materials provided by American Chemical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Marta Gallego, Leticia Mora, Maria Hayes, Milagro Reig, Fidel Toldr�. Peptides with Potential Cardioprotective Effects Derived from Dry-Cured Ham Byproducts. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2019; DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b05888

Cite This Page:

American Chemical Society. "Dry-cured ham bones -- a source of heart-healthy peptides?." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 January 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190116090704.htm>.
American Chemical Society. (2019, January 16). Dry-cured ham bones -- a source of heart-healthy peptides?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 27, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190116090704.htm
American Chemical Society. "Dry-cured ham bones -- a source of heart-healthy peptides?." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190116090704.htm (accessed March 27, 2024).

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