Effect of different proteases on bitterness of hemoglobin hydrolysates.

Hemoglobin was hydrolyzed by several enzymes (Proctase, Alcalase, Neutrase, papain). Hydrolysates were analyzed (degree of hydrolysis, gel permeation on Superose 12 column, tasting) and fractionated by ultrafiltration and 2-butanol extraction. The bitter peptides were isolated and identified.

Bitter peptide from hemoglobin hydrolysate: isolation and characterization.

Two separation methods, ultrafiltration and 2-butanol extraction, have shown that a peptide is the major agent responsible for bitterness in peptic hemoglobin hydrolysates. It was easily purified from these complex mixtures by specific hydrophobic adsorption on Superose 12, a gel-filtration column, which could constitute an original and interesting method for bitterness detection. The bitter peptide which corresponded to VV-hemorphin 7, the fragment 32-40 of the beta chain of bovine hemoglobin, is first generated during proteolysis, then hydrolysed by pepsin.