Fabrication of Fructooligosaccharide-Larimichthys crocea Peptide Copolymer by Wet-Heating for Enhanced Calcium Delivery and Bone-Lipid Metabolism Regulation.

Calcium delivery systems based on food-derived peptides and polysaccharides offer a promising strategy for improving calcium bioavailability while preserving peptide bioactivity. In this study, a fructooligosaccharide-Larimichthys crocea peptide (FOS-LCP) copolymer was fabricated by wet-heating and evaluated as a multifunctional calcium carrier. FOS-LCP showed improved calcium-binding capacity, digestive stability, and resistance to dietary inhibitors, thus increasing Ca2+ uptake and transport in intestinal models in vitro. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells isolated from calcium-deficient mice were used to assess bone-lipid regulation in vitro. In the presence of Ca2+, FOS-LCP promoted osteogenic differentiation and osteogenic marker expression, suppressed adipogenic differentiation, activated the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, inhibited PPARγ/C/EBPα-driven lipogenesis, reduced adipokine secretion, and enhanced lipolytic gene expression. These findings indicate that FOS-LCP coordinately enhances calcium absorption and rebalances bone-lipid metabolism at the cellular level, supporting wet-heating-derived peptide-polysaccharide copolymers as promising functional calcium delivery systems.