MOSCOW, May 30. An import-substituting drink that lowers blood sugar levels in diabetics was developed by SUSU scientists. They modeled their own drink recipe based on protein hydrolyzate, which, according to the developers, can be an effective addition to traditional treatment for type 1 diabetes and will reduce the dose of insulin. Secondary food products, in particular chicken gizzards, were used as raw materials. The results were published in the journal Food Systems.
Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Untreated diabetes can lead to complications such as blindness, limb amputation, kidney failure, heart attack, and stroke.
Currently, two types of diabetes are known — type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent) and type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent).
In Russia, according to the Ministry of Health, more than 10 million people suffer from diabetes Human. Patients need an easily digestible diet rich in vitamins, which helps normalize glucose levels.
Scientists from South Ural State University (SUSU) have created a drink that contains bioactive peptides that suppress the activity of enzymes involved in regulating blood sugar levels. In addition, according to the developers, these peptides have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties.
According to experts, protein hydrolysates are a promising active component in specialized food products: all over the world they are mainly prepared from plant materials for various medical indications.
However, Russian scientists have developed their own import-substituting technology, combining two types of animal protein — from curd whey and crushed chicken stomachs, which are fermented with the participation of propionic acid bacteria. Studies have shown that it is propionic acid bacteria that contribute to the formation of the largest amount of peptides with antidiabetic effects in the hydrolyzate.
«»Unlike vegetable protein, animal protein has a more valuable amino acid composition, therefore there is a higher probability of obtaining valuable active peptides in raw materials with potential hypoglycemic properties. activity,” explained Oksana Zinina, associate professor of the SUSU Department of Food and Biotechnology.
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According to her, during the preparation of protein hydrolyzate, active peptides are formed in the mixture, which reduce blood sugar levels through suppressing the activity of enzymes such as dipeptidyl peptidase-4 and α- amylase. In addition, it is these bioactive peptides that give the finished drink antioxidant, antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties.
«Chicken stomachs and curd whey are nutraceutically valuable secondary products of food production, which are promising high-protein raw materials for protein hydrolysates,» the associate professor noted, adding that combining different proteins during hydrolysis allows obtaining unique peptides in the finished hydrolysate, which work as preventive agents for various diseases.
The effect of the drink on reducing blood glucose SUSU scientists in collaboration with scientists from South Ural State Medical University confirmed it on laboratory animals — rats with type 1 diabetes mellitus. To finally confirm the hypoglycemic and antioxidant effect, Chelyabinsk scientists plan to conduct a study of the bioactive drink on volunteers.
“We assume that our protein drink, introduced into the diet of patients with diabetes, can replace some of their injected insulin,” noted the master’s student Anna Nikolina, Department of Food and Biotechnology, SUSU.
According to scientists, drinking a drink based on hydrolyzate before each meal by diabetics will help significantly reduce the consumption of insulin doses and provide the patient with greater nutraceutical benefits.