Abstract
The lack of a bioaccessibility test for yak bone collagen hydrolysates (YBCH) limits their development as functional foods. In this study, simulated gastrointestinal digestion (SD) and absorption (SA) models were utilized to evaluate the bioaccessibility of YBCH for the first time. The variation in peptides and free amino acids was primarily characterized. There was no significant alteration in the concentration of peptides during the SD. The transport rate of peptides through the Caco-2 cell monolayers was 22.14 ± 1.58%. Finally, a total of 440 peptides were identified, more than 75% of them with lengths ranging from 7 to 15. The peptide identification indicated that about 77% of the peptides in the beginning sample still existed after the SD, and about 76% of the peptides in the digested YBCH could be observed after the SA. These results suggested that most peptides in the YBCH resist gastrointestinal digestion and absorption. After the in silico prediction, seven typical bioavailable bioactive peptides were screened out and they exhibited multi-type bioactivities in vitro. This is the first study to characterize the changes in peptides and amino acids in the YBCH during gastrointestinal digestion and absorption, and provides a foundation for analyzing the mechanism of YBCH's bioactivities.