ABSTRACT
The role of peptides from dietary proteins as physiologically active components has been increasingly acknowledged (Marshall, 1994). Nutritionally, dietary peptides are a source of energy and amino acids, which are essential for growth and maintenance. In addition, it is well documented that a number of amino acids possess speci†c physiological properties both bene†cial and detrimental; for example, they participate in many biochemical pathways and are precursors of active metabolites (Wu, 2009). The amino acids, for example, arginine, glutamine, histidine, lysine, taurine, tyrosine, and tryptophan, are considered to be physiologically bene†cial and the best sources of these amino acids are meat, eggs, †sh, soybeans, and dairy products. On the other hand, a few amino acid derivatives, which are formed during food processing, such as lysinoalanine, D-amino acids, and biogenic amines, may cause undesirable metabolic or even toxic events in the body.
