Functional Bioactive Calcium Chelated to the Oligopeptides Prepared from Corn

摘要

Calcium plays important functions in the body, especially for bones and teeth, but its full potential is not realized due to its poor absorption by the digestive tract, even though many foods contain enough calcium sources. There are many people in the world whose diet does not meet the recommended daily level of calcium, mainly the target group, which includes children, old men, old women, pregnant and nursing women. Many other people are very familiar with the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) of calcium, but they do not really know if they are getting enough from what they eat. The absorption of calcium is facilitated by many factors, among which are certain proteins and amino acids. Commercial crude corn protein powder was subjected to twelve hours of enzymatic hydrolysis in order to prepare the Oligopeptides, which are a good form for gastrointestinal absorption. By HPLC determination, the hydrolysate showed 88.23% of Oligopeptides were obtain, most of them, with molecular weights corresponding to dipeptides, tripeptides and pentapeptides. Chelating calcium to the hydrolysate carried out binding, and the product after chelating calcium to the hydrolysate was named corn calcium Oligopeptides (CCO), which is easily digested and does not dissociate. The exact amount of che-lated calcium in CCO was determined by both methods of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer Measurements (AASM) and Ion Selective Electrode Potentiometer Measurements (ISEPM). The absorption and retention rate of this protein-like substance free from bitter taste, in mice, indicated satisfactory results. The consumption of CCO product is a good way for self-monitoring to achieve the RDA for calcium. The present paper, reports complete results of the study on calcium chelation to the Oligopeptides prepared from corn, and its absorption by the digestive tract, with the aim of finding solution to control the calcium deficiency diseases.