Difference Between Peptide and Protein

With the development of the economy, people's material needs have been continuously improved, and more people have begun to pursue a healthy and happy lifestyle. Fitness can not only shape your body to make it more beautiful, but also strengthen your body and enhance your ability to resist bacterial invasion. For fitness enthusiasts, they should not only work hard on exercise, but also pay attention to food. So are there any specific differences between peptides and protein foods that are often used by fitness enthusiasts?

Now with the development of science and technology, peptides are gradually applied to different industries and are widely used.

What are the differences between proteins and peptides?

Peptides are compounds formed by the dehydration condensation of 10 to 100 amino acid molecules. They have a molecular weight of less than 10,000 Da (Dalton), can pass through semipermeable membranes, and are not precipitated by trichloroacetic acid and ammonium sulfate. There are also literatures that call peptides composed of 2 to 10 amino acids oligopeptides (small molecule peptides); peptides composed of 10 to 50 amino acids are called polypeptides; and peptides composed of more than 50 amino acids are called proteins.

At present, there are dozens of functional peptides that can be used in health foods (functional foods). Direct oral administration of peptides is also a fast and efficient way to supplement amino acids, and is a long-term nutritional supplement for the weak and sick. The introduction of the concept of peptide nutrition has provided unlimited vitality for the in-depth application of functional peptides in health foods and food additives. For example, milk peptides are developed to target infants and young children for cow's milk allergies. It is mainly used in infant food, as well as for improving balanced nutritional food, sports food and ordinary food. Egg white peptides are widely used in nutritional supplements, foods for infants and the elderly. Corn peptides are effective for post-exercise fatigue, improving liver disease, preventing drunkenness, and intestinal dysfunction

Protein: A type of biological macromolecule widely present in organisms. It is a peptide chain formed by peptide bonds between α-amino and α-carboxyl groups of α-amino acids encoded by nucleic acids. It is an active macromolecule with a specific three-dimensional structure generated through post-translational processing. It is a high molecular compound formed by α-amino acids combining in a certain order to form a polypeptide chain, and then one or more polypeptide chains combining in a specific way. The connection is: they are all made up of 20 basic amino acids connected by peptide bonds.

The difference is as follows

1. Structurally: A polypeptide refers to a linear amino acid chain formed by the dehydration condensation of multiple amino acids; a protein may have only one polypeptide chain or may be composed of multiple polypeptide chains.

2. In terms of function: polypeptides do not necessarily have biological activity; proteins generally have biological activity.

3. In terms of connotation: polypeptide generally only emphasizes its linear sequence, that is, the primary structure. Protein is a term that emphasizes the three-dimensional spatial structure, that is, protein has secondary structure, tertiary structure or quaternary structure.