Corn Distillers Solubles as a Plant-Based Bioresource for Proteins and Bioactive Peptides: Current Status and Bioprospects- a Critical Review

The demand for plant-based proteins is increasing at a rapid rate in the modern era. Hence, finding a new source of plant proteins might fulfill such requirements. Corn distilleries generate various protein-containing by-products, for instance, an undervalued and less explored corn distillers solubles (CDS). The CDS was reviewed to assess its potential as a new source of proteins and bioactive peptides. This review summarizes the current understanding of CDS proteins, with an emphasis on their composition, characteristics, quality, and bioactive peptides for cost-effective applications. Finally, several industrial applications of proteins and protein hydrolysates of CDS have been discussed, as well as the destiny of these products in terms of restrictions, barriers, future research paths, and problems. The literature showed that proteins of CDS were glycated to some extent due to the multiple evaporation steps employed in distilleries. To the best of the author's knowledge, the influence of yeast on the quality and quantity of CDS proteins has not been studied comprehensively. The digestibility of CDS proteins has not been clearly explicated. Enzymatic hydrolysis of protein concentrate from CDS implied its potential as protein hydrolysates comprising antioxidant capacity, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibition and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition as the prime activities.