Production and characterization of enzymatic hydrolysate from soy protein isolate

Soy protein isolate was enzymatically hydrolysed, for its potential nse in clinical nutrition, using pancreatin as the hydrolytic agent. The hydrolysa te, after separation of the insoluble fraction, showed differences in its a mino acid composition with respect to soy protein isolate. There was a decr ease in the content of the essential amino acids, Val, Leu and Phe, and an increase in Lys and Trp. The average peptide size was evaluated using gel e xclusion chromatography on Sephadex G-25, total and free amino acid analysi s, and NH2-group determination The peptide size distribution of the hydroly sate was 0.24 peptides with 18 residues, 0.27 with 12 residues, 0.38 peptid es with 2-5 residues and 0.12 free amino acid. This size distribution was s imilar to that of casein and soy protein hydrolysates which have been used successfully in clinical nutrition.