Effect of heating on the digestibility of isolated hempseed (Cannabis sativa L.) protein and bioactivity of its pepsin-pancreatin digests

Abstract The objective was to investigate the effects of heat pretreatment and simulated gastrointestinal digestion on potential antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities of hempseed (Cannabis sativa L.) proteins. Unheated isolated hempseed protein (IHP) and its heated counterparts (100 °C, 15 min and 30 min, termed as HP15D and HP30D) were hydrolyzed sequentially with pepsin and pancreatin before and analyzed for digestibility and bioactivity (antioxidant, anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory properties). Heat pretreatment lead to an increase of low molecular weight proteins and degree of hydrolysis, and decrease of concentration of soluble protein, which means heat pretreated can significantly improve the digestibility of IHP. Pepsin-pancreatin digests released from heat pretreated IHP possessed less antioxidant, antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory properties than digests from unheated IHP. In conclusion, heat pre-treatment improved the digestibility of IHP but the resulting digests from heated IHP had lower bioactivity.