The Stages of the Peptic Hydrolysis of Egg Albumin

1. Most of the products of the peptic hydrolysis of albumin, about 85 per cent of the total N, are primary in the sense that they arise directly from the protein molecule, and undergo no further hydrolysis. 2. A slow secondary hydrolysis, involving about 15 per cent of the total N, occurs in the proteose and simpler fractions primarily split off. 3. Acid metaprotein in peptic hydrolysis arises as a result of the action of acid. It is not an essential stage in the hydrolysis of undenatured albumin. 4. Acid metaprotein is hydrolyzed by pepsin more slowly under comparable conditions than undenatured albumin.