Research progress in structure-activity relationship of bioactive peptides.

Bioactive peptides are specific protein fragments that have positive impact on health. They are important sources of new biomedicine, energy and high-performance materials. The beneficial effects of bioactive peptides are due to their antioxidant, antihypertensive, anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, and immunomodulatory activities. The structure-activity relationship of bioactive peptides plays a significant role in the development of innovative and unconventional synthetic polymeric counterparts. It provides the basis of the stereospecific synthesis, transformation, and development of bioactive peptide products. This review covers the progress of studies in the structure-activity relationship of some bioactive peptides including antioxidant peptides, angiotensin-I-converting enzyme-inhibitory peptides, and anticarcinogenic peptides in the past decade.