PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

Mentarang (Pholas orientalis) protein hydrolysate was produced by hydrolysis with Alcalase 2.4L using pH-stat method. The muscle was initially hydrolysed for 2 hours at 3% enzyme-substrate ratio, 600C and pH 8.5, centrifuged and freeze dried. The yield, composition and functional properties of the resulting hydrolysate were determined. A reasonably high yield was achieved which is 11.03%. The hydrolysate was characterized by high protein content (43.0%) and yellowish in colour (L* = 72.98, a* = 0.42, b* = 15.15). It contains high amount of essential amino acids (45.62%) with alanine and serine as the dominant amino acids. The protein hydrolysate had an excellent solubility (92.32%) and an emulsifying stability index of 36.13 min. Foaming properties decrease significantly (p<0.05) with increasing time of foam. In view of these beneficial properties, mentarang (Pholas orientalis) hydrolysate has the potential for application as a natural additive in food.