Cow and camel milk-derived whey and casein protein hydrolysates demonstrated effective antifungal properties against selected Candida species.

Bioactive peptides derived from milk proteins are widely known to possess antibacterial activities. Even though the antibacterial effects of milk-derived peptides are widely characterized, not much focus is given to their antifungal characterization. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the antifungal properties of camel and cow whey and casein hydrolysates against various species of pathogenic Candida. The hydrolysates were produced using 2 enzymes (alcalase and protease) at differing hydrolysis durations (2,4, and 6 h) and tested for their antifungal properties. The results showed that intact cow whey and casein proteins did not display any anti-Candida albicans properties, whereas the alcalase-derived 2 h camel casein hydrolysate (CA-C-A2) displayed a higher percentage of inhibition against Candida albicans (93.69±0.26%) followed by the cow casein hydrolysate generated by protease-6 h (Co-C-P6; 81.66±0.99%), which were significantly higher than that of fluconazole, a conventional antifungal agent (76.92±4.72%). Interestingly, when tested again Candida krusei,...