Abstract
Recently, proteins and peptides have become important ingredients in
functional foods due to the emergence of knowledge about their properties and
biological activities. Many biologically active peptides (BAPs) have been studied from
different animal and vegetal origins, principally legumes, such as soybeans and beans.
BAPs have been shown to have anticancer, antitumoral, antioxidant and antimutagenic
activities. Cacao, an ancient crop that originated in the Mesoamerican region, contains
several bioactive compounds, e.g., polyphenols, alkaloids, flavanols, procyanidins and
peptides. Cocoa beans contain 50% lipids and 14% protein, with albumins and
globulins prevailing. The principal amino acids from cocoa protein are lysine, arginine,
serine, proline, alanine, leucine, valine and methionine, and they allow the elucidation
of the peptide’s bioactivity. Cocoa BAPs show antitumoral, antioxidant,
antihypertensive and antidiabetic activities and obesity prevention. This work
demonstrates the potential of all its BAPs.