Q. Can you explain Protease inhibitors?

Ans.

Protease inhibitors are the compounds which are found to some extent in cereal grains such as oats, wheat, barley and maize; vegetables such as onion and beetroot; nuts such as peanuts. These inhibitors interfere with the action of enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin produced by the pancreas to break down ingested proteins. Tipsin inhibitors are proteins distributed widely in the plant foods like legumes and certain animal foods like white of an egg. They generally inhibit the activity of trypsin (an enzyme secreted by the pancreas) in the gut and interfere with the digestibility of dietary proteins, thereby, reducing their utiiization. The trypsin inhibitors present in the dhals that we eat daily and the hen egg white, are easily inactivated by the normal cooking procedures and do not pose any problem. More drastic heat treatment is necessary to inactivate these inhibitors in soyabeans, peas, lima and kidney beans and also the duck egg white. Thus, for better digestibility and utilization of the proteins, these foods need to be thoroughly cooked before consumption.