Quantitative Peptidomic profiling of caprine and bovine Milk after simulated gastrointestinal digestion: A multidimensional analytical strategy integrating UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS and QqQ-MS

Fei Zhao, Jing Lan, Kuo Dang, Yanli Wang, Dongbing Li, Daodong Pan, Lihui Du, Yali Dang, Xinchang Gao

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Caprine and bovine milk have been widely used as a supplementary nutritional source during early infancy. This study established an integrated peptidomics workflow combining in vitro digestion with multidimensional mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/QqQ-MS) to decode species-specific peptide release patterns. Systemic peptidomic profiling identified 1728 and 1088 unique peptides in caprine and bovine skimmed milk digests, respectively, with β-casein-derived peptides dominating both systems (CHMP:126 vs BTMP:116). Two β-casein regions (P90-K112 and M159-L180) were identified as proteolytic hotspots generating structurally diverse peptides. Through relative-to-absolute quantification cascades, ten signature sequences were validated: LYQEPVLGPVR, SDIPNPIGSENSGK, YQEPVLGPVR, INNQFLPYPY, YPVEPFTESQSL, QGPIVLNPW, SLAMAASDISLL, LTEEEK, DMPIQAF, VLVLDTDYK, with species-dependent abundance: YQEPVLGPVR peaked in BTMP (0.84 mg·g−1) versus DMPIQAF in CHMP (1.39 mg·g−1). These sequence-resolved quantitative maps reveal the species-specific peptide clusters and provided templates for designing hypoallergenic infant formulas or cardiovascular nutraceuticals. This study provided data support for the functional research of dairy products in vivo.

Original languageEnglish
Article number117264
Number of pages12
JournalFood Research International
Volume221
Issue numberpart 1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2025

Keywords

  • Simulated in vitro digestion
  • Peptide quantification
  • Protein traceability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Food Science

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