Ham peptides and blood pressure in rats
What it found
Peptides from Spanish dry-cured ham were identified and one, AAATP, lowered blood pressure in rats.
The work was done in lab tests and in rats, not in people.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Peptides identified
A total of 73 peptide sequences were identified from the ham extracts. They were between 5 and 14 amino acids long and had molecular weights from 374 to 1610 Da.
ACE inhibition in lab
The peptide AAATP was the most potent at inhibiting ACE in lab tests, with an IC50 of 100 μM. Other peptides like ASGPINFT and DVITGA had moderate activity.
Blood pressure in rats
In spontaneously hypertensive rats, a single oral dose of AAATP (1 mg per kg of body weight) lowered systolic blood pressure by 25.62 mmHg after 8 hours, compared to controls.
Possible synergy
The authors suggest that the ACE inhibitory activity in some fractions might come from several peptides working together, not just one.
What the authors conclude
“Results from this work showed that Spanish dry-cured ham may represent a source of natural peptides able to reduce both ACE inhibitory activity and systolic blood pressure.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that Spanish dry-cured ham may be a source of natural peptides that can reduce ACE activity and systolic blood pressure.
- They say the natural presence of such peptides could help counteract the adverse effect of salt on blood pressure.
- They note that this is the first report of in vivo antihypertensive activity of an isolated peptide from dry-cured ham.
How it was done
The authors wanted to find natural substances from food that could help with high blood pressure, since nutrition plays a role in preventing or treating it.
They extracted peptides from three Spanish dry-cured hams, separated them, and tested their ability to inhibit ACE in the lab. They also gave one peptide, AAATP, to spontaneously hypertensive rats and measured their systolic blood pressure.
What it can’t tell you
- These results are from lab tests and rats. They cannot show what happens in people.
- The study did not test whether eating ham itself lowers blood pressure in humans.
- The long-term effects of these peptides in people are not known.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Instituto de agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (CSIC), Spain
The paper
- Title
- Purification and Identification of antihypertensive peptides in Spanish dry-cured ham
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Escudero E, Mora L, Fraser PD, Aristoy MC, Arihara K, Toldrá F (2013). Purification and Identification of antihypertensive peptides in Spanish dry-cured ham. Journal of proteomics. doi:10.1016/j.jprot.2012.10.019Free full textPubMed 23117181DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error