The role and application prospects of plant-derived bioactive peptides in exercise fatigue recovery

Exercise-induced fatigue is a regular physiological event that impairs sports performance and prolongs recovery time. While conventional recovery methods exist, there is a pressing need for natural, effective, and sustainable alternatives. This review aims to comprehensively review the emerging role of plant-derived bioactive peptides (PBPs) in sports nutrition, highlighting their innovative potential compared to traditional supplements. We demonstrate that PBPs alleviate fatigue through multi-targeted remarkable mechanisms: scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) to mitigate oxidative stress, downregulating pro-inflammatory cytokines to protect muscle tissue, and activating specific metabolic pathways (e.g., AMPK) to accelerate glycogen resynthesis and optimize energy utilization. Consequently, the application of PBPs offers a compelling solution to delay fatigue and accelerate physical recovery. However, the field faces significant new challenges, including the lack of standardized dosages, unmapped structure-activity relationships, and a scarcity of human clinical trials. By addressing these unexplored aspects, this study provides a critical theoretical foundation and future directions for developing PBPs as next-generation functional ingredients in personalized sports nutrition.