Munazzah Meraj

By Iqra Aslam, Amsha Hoor, Munazzah Meraj and Sadia Javed

Today hypertension has become a threat to the human lives. Different factors like sensitivity to sodium, obesity, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle and smoking are responsible for the development of hypertension. Hypertension can be of major risk factor to cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Because of their small molecular mass, bioactive peptides have an important role in the digestion and absorption of proteins. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory (ACE-I) peptides are one of the most widely used bioactive peptide in the field of medicine and food processing. Thus, these inhibitors are applied to regulate the blood pressure and prevent hypertension. Synthetic ACE inhibitors have various side effects and that is why scientists nowadays, are focusing on the natural alternate of ACE inhibitors with promising health properties. Two types of proteins found in milk are casein and whey proteins which are a good source of the bioactive peptides having a positive impact on body functions. ACE inhibitory peptides derived from the goat milk proteins are considered to be used in nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical products to reduce the hypertension ultimately reducing the risk of CVD and other related diseases.

Part of the book: Goat Science