Descriptive term applied to intermediate polypeptide products, formed in partial hydrolysis of proteins, that are soluble in water, diffusible, and not coagulable by heat; used in bacterial culture media.
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pep·tone 'pep-.tōn n
1) any of various protein derivatives that are formed by the partial hydrolysis of proteins (as by enzymes of the gastric and pancreatic juices or by acids or alkalies), that are not coagulated by heat, and that are soluble in water but unlike proteoses are not precipitated from solution by saturation with ammonium sulfate
2) a complex water-soluble product that contains peptones and other protein derivatives, is obtained by digesting protein (as meat) with an enzyme (as pepsin or trypsin), and is used chiefly in nutrient media in bacteriology
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n.
a large protein fragment produced by the action of enzymes on proteins in the first stages of protein digestion.
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pep·tone (pepґtōn) [Gr. pepton digesting] a derived protein, or a mixture of cleavage products produced by the partial hydrolysis of a native protein either by an acid or by an enzyme. Peptones are readily soluble in water and are not precipitatable by heat, by alkalis, or by saturation with ammonium sulfate. peptonic adjMedical dictionary. 2011.