Bioactive food-derived peptides for functional nutrition: Effect of fortification, processing and storage on peptide stability and bioactivity within food matrices

•The choice of nutrients in the matrix affects the activity of the hydrolysates.•There is generally no relevant loss of bioactivity after processing.•The studies do not consider all the parameters for an adequate assessment.•Further studies are required in human to prove health-promoting effects. New challenges in food production and processing are appearing due to increasing global population and the purpose of achieving a sustainable food system. Bioactive peptides obtained from food proteins can be employed to prevent or pre-treat several diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, thrombosis, cancer, etc. Research on the bioactivity of protein hydrolysates is very extensive, especially in vitro tests, although there are also tests in animal models and in humans studies designed to verify their efficacy. However, there is very little published literature on the functionality of these protein hydrolysates as an ingredient in food matrices, as well as the effect that thermal or non-thermal processing, and storage may have on the bioactivity of these bioactive peptides. This review aims to summarize the published literature on protein hydrolysates as a functional ingredient including processing, storage and simulated gastrointestinal digestion regarding the bioactivity of these peptides inside food matrices.