Bovine Serum Albumin: Properties and Applications

Serum albumin is a large protein present in cow serum protein (BSA, Bovine Serum Albumin) rich in essential amino acids and compounds with disulfide bridges and thiol groups. This protein passes into breast milk from the bloodstream by diffusion, has antioxidant capacity and protects fats from oxidation. Albumin has the ability to inhibit tumor factors and bind to fat, mobilize them in the body to perform other functions such as obtaining energy or forming membranes. It is also able to block the conversion of angiotensin I into angiotensin II (vasoconstrictor) which gives it antihypertensive action. In addition, it has the ability to reduce cholesterol absorption, complex heavy metals and is an opioid agonist (acts on opioid receptors and promotes analgesia). BSA is the most studied and produced protein worldwide in the last 80 years. This protein brings large dividends to the world economy with a very prominent and favorable annual growth at a cost of 100 USD per gram. This book brings new contributions to the science and industry of this biopolymer. The audience of this book is very wide from students, teachers and researchers (doctors, pharmacists, biochemists and industrialists of this sector). Therefore, this book has a great future and many readers to whom it is addressed.