Characterization of structure–antioxidant activity relationship of peptides in free radical systems using QSAR models: Key sequence positions and their amino acid properties

Antioxidative peptides have attracted increasing attention from researchers because of their antioxidant properties as natural materials in functional food and for applications in medicine. However, the relationship between structure and activity (SAR) remains unclear, especially in antioxidative peptides in free radical systems. Antioxidative peptides with different lengths were obtained from the literature, measured using different methods, and were organized into three databases, namely, Trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC), and superoxide radical (SOR). After the peptides were processed using the two-terminal position numbering method, quantitative SAR modeling was performed on antioxidative peptides in the three databases. The vectors of hydrophobic, steric, and electronic properties (VHSE) and the divided physicochemical property scores descriptors (DPPS) were selected from 17 physicochemical descriptors to express electronic, hydrophobic, and steric properties (or hydrogen bonding) of the three (or four) external amino acids in the N-terminal and C-terminal positions. Models were estimated using partial least squares regression and validated through full cross-validation and external validation (R2>0.7, Q2>0.5 for TEAC; R2>0.9, Q2>0.5 for ORAC and SOR). The results found a relationship between the physicochemical properties of the C-terminal and N-terminal regions and antioxidant potency. The properties of amino acids at C-terminal regions were more important than those at the N-terminal regions for predicting antioxidant activity. The properties of amino acids at C2>C1 for TEAC, C3>C4>C1 for ORAC, and C4>C1>N1 for SOR were highly correlated with antioxidant activity. Although electronic property most significantly contributed to antioxidant activity in the three free radical systems, it had complex effects at each position. Bulky hydrophobic amino acids at the C-terminal were related to the antioxidant activity of peptides in the three free radical systems. For peptides in the TEAC database, the relationship between the N-terminal segment (N2, N3) and the activity increased when longer peptides were included, which reflects the likely influence of stericity. This study contributes to the ongoing research on antioxidants in food and its application in medicine. ► C-terminal is more important than N-terminal. ► Electronic property is significant for activity but complex. ► Bulky and hydrophobic of a