Identification of food-derived peptides in human blood after ingestion of corn and wheat gluten hydrolysates

Bioactive peptides in the body after ingestion of plant protein hydrolysates have been speculated but not identified. We aimed to establish an approach to identify small amounts of food-derived peptides in humans after ingestion of non-extracellular matrix protein hydrolysates. Corn and wheat gluten hydrolysates were digested using pancreatin and leucine aminopeptidase; the resultant peptides were identified via size-exclusion chromatography and reverse-phase HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Structures of indigestible peptides were confirmed via LC-MS/MS in multi-reaction monitoring mode. All indigestible peptides in the exopeptidase digest were diprolyl and di- and tripyroglutamyl peptides. Blood collected from healthy volunteers (n = 4) before and after ingestion of 9 g of the hydrolysates was assessed for the indigestible peptides via LC-MS/MS. Six peptides (Pro-Ala, Pro-Gly, Pro-Gln, pyroGlu-Pro, pyroGlu-Leu-Pro, and pyroGlu-Gln-Pro) significantly increased in human plasma up to 10–100 nM compared to the baseline. This may hence be a powerful tool for identifying food-derived peptides in blood.