Optimum time requirement for enzymic hydrolysis of food proteins

Extent of hydrolysis of different food proteins by pepsin + pancreatin enzy mes was investigated to arrive at the minimum time required for complete hy drolysts. The food groups selected were cereals, decorticated legumes and d efatted oilseeds. Milk protein was taken as reference. Cooked food samples were digested with pepsin and pancreatin, reaction stopped at timely interv als and nitrogen was estimated in supenatent to calculate percent protein h ydrolyzed. Casein and skim milk powder were found to be highly digestible w ith 91.2% (25 min) and 93.8% (10 min) digestibility, respectively. Among ce reals, maximum digestibility was observed at 40 min for rice (85.5%), wheat (84.2%). ragi (77.2%) and at 30 min for jowar (76.2%). Legume samples coul d be hydrolyzed upto 50 min with maximum digestibility of 85.7% for redgram , 84.0% for greengram, 85.3% for Bengalgram and 78.9% for blackgram. Defatt ed oilseeds exhibited maximum digestibility of 96.6% for groundnuts, 94.1% for sunflower and 88.2% for soybean at 30 min. Overall, food samples select ed had maximum digestibility between 30-50 min and these intervals could be used for in vitro studies.