Effect of preserved eggs on the health of SD rats, and anti‐tumor action of HT‐29 cells

Preserved eggs are traditional alkali‐pickled food in China and have been enjoyed by consumers and extensively studied by researchers for their nutritional tastes and their anti‐tumor, anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, lipid‐lowering, and blood pressure‐lowering properties. To study the anti‐tumor effects of preserved eggs, this project observed the health on rats, and anti‐tumor effects and separated anti‐tumor active components on HT‐29 cells. SD rats fed for 80 days showed that preserved eggs had no significant effect on weight, food intake, blood pH, liver tissues, or organ indices. Preserved eggs significantly increased blood levels of oxidative stress markers SOD and CAT, decreased MDA levels by 0.46, 0.23, and 0.25 times. Moreover, they also increased the level of IL‐2 from 1233 to 1340 pg/mL. Two water‐soluble bioactive peptide fractions, B(1) and B(2), with molecular weights ≥10 kDa were further obtained from preserved eggs by ultrafiltration and Superdex Peptide 10/300 GL. The potential mechanism of B(1) and B(2) is to activate the internal mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and induce apoptosis by up‐regulating the expression of the pro‐apoptotic factors cytochrome C, caspase‐3, and caspase‐9 mRNA in HT‐29 cells.