The effect of neutrase on degree of hydrolysis, nitrogen recovery and peptide chain length of white cheek shark meat protein hydrolysate

White cheek shark (Carcharhinus dussumieri) is an important species shark fish in Persian Gulf. Because of high urea content in shark meat, there is a weak market for its fillet or other direct products in Iran. In this study, the effect of enzymatic hydrolysis by Neutrase on degree of hydrolysis (DH), nitrogen recovery (NR) and peptide chain length (PCL) of white cheek shark meat has been studied. Enzyme to substrate ratio of 12 AU/Kg proteins at 50oC has been applied for enzymatic hydrolysis. Degree of hydrolysis were determined during 10, 20 and 30 minutes. DH, and NR decreased, but PCL increased in each stage compared with the previous one. However, the mean of DH in the whole process of 10, 20 and 30 minute were 2.90, 3.79, 4.48% for DH, 74.79, 80.75, 89.64% for NR, and 51.54, 39.68, 33.98 for PCL, respectively. However, at longer hydrolysis time, DH, and NR increased, but PCL decreased significantly (P< 0.05).