1 Introduction Functional foods are increasingly investigated as long-term dietary strategies for chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes (Liang et al. 2024; Zhang et al. 2025; Peighambardoust et al. 2021). Bioactive peptides (BAPs) are promising candidates because short peptide sequences can interact with enzymes, receptors, membranes, and signaling pathways, including ACE and PI3K/Akt-related pathways (Ashaolu and Suttikhana 2023; Fan et al. 2024; Li et al. 2025).
