Hypertension is characterized by excessive renin-angiotensin system activity, leading to blood vessel constriction. Several synthetic compounds have been developed to inhibit renin and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). These drugs often have adverse side effects, driving the exploration of plant protein-derived peptides as alternative or supplementary treatments. This study assessed the phenolic compound and amino acid content and the antioxidant and antihypertensive activity of 5 South Korean staple crops. Sorghum had the highest phenolic compound content and exhibited the highest antioxidant activity. Millet grains, particularly finger millet (38.86%), showed higher antihypertensive activity than red beans (14.42%) and sorghum (17.16%). Finger millet was found to contain a large proportion of branched-chain, aromatic, and sulfur-containing amino acids, which are associated with ACE inhibition. In particular, cysteine content was positively correlated with ACE inhibition in the crops tested (r=0.696, p<0.01). This study confirmed that the amino acid composition was more correlated with the antihypertensive activity of grains than the phenolic compound content. Finger millet mainly contained amino acids, which have higher ACE inhibitory activity, resulting in the strongest antihypertensive activity. These findings underscore the antihypertensive potential of select crops as plant-based food ingredients, offering insight into their biological functions.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the physicochemical properties by mixing ratio of soybean and peanut protein to secure basic data for developing alternative protein foods. As a result of analyzing the protein molecular weight pattern, it was confirmed that the specific molecular weight was affected by the soybean and peanut protein mixture. The content of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, arginine, glycine, serine, alanine, and tyrosine among nonessential amino acids was higher as the mixing ratio of peanut protein to soy protein was higher. However, the higher the peanut protein mixing ratio, the lower the water absorption capacity. Based on the results of this study, further studies, such as selecting soybean and peanut cultivars for determining the optimal mixing ratio of soybean and peanut protein and processing methods to improve physical properties, are necessary