Peanut Peptide
Peanut peptide is the water soluble hydrolysate produced by digesting peanut protein, from Arachis hypogaea, with food grade proteases and drying the clarified digest into a powder of short peptide chains.
The feedstock is normally the cake left after peanuts are pressed for oil, which still carries around 45 to 50 percent protein. Peanut protein is dominated by the globulins arachin and conarachin, notably rich in arginine and glutamic acid and limited in lysine and the sulphur amino acids. Intact peanut protein is poorly soluble around its isoelectric region near pH 4.5, and the strong flavour of peanut meal limits its use in unflavoured products. Hydrolysis addresses the first problem completely, lifting solubility above 90 percent across the practical pH range, and the second only partly.
The powder is light yellow to pale brown, dissolves rapidly in cold and hot water to a low viscosity solution, remains clear in acid drinks and survives pasteurisation. Flavour is mildly nutty with bitterness rising as hydrolysis is driven further, so an exopeptidase debittering stage is standard. One point matters more than any other in formulation: peanut is a major allergen, and hydrolysis does not remove that status, so the ingredient must be declared and handled as an allergen regardless of peptide size.
We source bulk Peanut Peptide from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Shandong. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Protein
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Light yellow to pale brown fine powder |
| Odour and Taste | Mild nutty note, slightly bitter, free from rancid or musty odour |
| Protein (N x 5.46, dry basis) | Minimum 80.0% |
| Peptide Content (dry basis) | Minimum 60.0% |
| Molecular Weight below 3000 Da | Minimum 85.0% |
| Solubility (1% in water) | Minimum 95.0% |
| Loss on Drying | Maximum 7.0% |
| Ash | Maximum 8.0% |
| Fat | Maximum 1.0% |
| Total Aflatoxins | Complies with the applicable maximum level of the destination market |
| pH (1% solution) | 6.0 to 7.5 |
| Lead | Maximum 0.5 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | Maximum 10,000 cfu/g |
| Escherichia coli and Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Grades are set by molecular weight and protein content. General food grade holds protein at 80 percent or more on a dry basis with most peptide mass below 3000 Daltons, while oligopeptide grade is ultrafiltered so that the greater part falls below 1000 Daltons, giving faster dissolution and a cleaner solution for beverages. Buyers also specify degree of hydrolysis where they are formulating around a defined absorption profile.
Feedstock quality is the other axis, and it matters more here than for most protein hydrolysates because peanuts are prone to Aspergillus contamination. Aflatoxin is tested on the incoming meal and again on the finished powder, and lots are graded against the aflatoxin limit of the destination market. Beyond that, cold pressed low temperature meal gives a paler and better tasting peptide than hot pressed or solvent extracted meal, decolourised and deodorised lots are made for consumer formats, unrefined lots go to feed and flavour work, and instantised granulations are offered for stick packs.
Applications
- Protein fortified beverages and functional drinks, where solubility at low pH is the deciding property
- Plant protein blends, combined with pulse or cereal proteins to compensate for the limiting lysine
- Sports and recovery formats positioned on rapid absorption and on the high arginine content of peanut protein
- Traditional style tonic drinks and instant powders in the Chinese market
- Clinical and convalescent nutrition, where short peptides ease the digestive load compared with whole protein
- Capsule and tablet supplements sold on plant peptide positioning
- Savoury seasonings and reaction flavours, where the nutty amino acid profile builds roast notes
- Bakery and confectionery products, contributing protein and a nutty background flavour
- Fermentation and cell culture media, used as a plant derived nitrogen source in place of animal peptone
- Animal feed and aquaculture diets, where hydrolysed peanut protein acts as a digestible protein and attractant
China Manufacturers of Peanut Peptide
Top Peanut Peptide manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States peanut protein and its hydrolysates are conventional food ingredients used under good manufacturing practice, with supplement applications falling under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. Peanuts are one of the major food allergens named in the Food Allergen Labelling and Consumer Protection Act, so peanut must be declared, and hydrolysis does not change that obligation, since peptides can retain allergenic epitopes. Aflatoxin is the other regulatory pressure point, with the Food and Drug Administration applying an action level to total aflatoxins in food, and the agency requires a protein hydrolysate to be labelled by its source protein rather than generically.
In the European Union peanut protein is a conventional food ingredient with no E number, and hydrolysates made from it by established processes are not novel foods. Peanuts appear in Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 and must be emphasised in the ingredient list wherever they occur. Maximum levels for aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxins in groundnuts and products derived from them are set in the contaminants legislation, with defined sampling and analysis methods, and imported consignments from higher risk origins are subject to increased official controls. Codex likewise maintains maximum levels for aflatoxins in peanuts and a code of practice for their prevention and reduction.
Manufacturing Process
Peanut cake from oil pressing is the starting material, and it is screened and tested for aflatoxin before anything else happens, since contaminated meal cannot be salvaged later in the process. The cake is milled, and the protein is either extracted directly or first purified into a peanut protein isolate by dispersing the meal in water at pH 8 to 9, separating the insoluble fibre on decanter centrifuges, and precipitating the protein at its isoelectric point near pH 4.5 before washing and neutralising the curd.
The protein slurry is then held at 50 to 60 degrees Celsius under controlled pH and digested with proteases, typically a bacterial endoprotease to cleave the chains followed by an exopeptidase preparation that removes the hydrophobic terminal residues carrying most of the bitterness. When the target degree of hydrolysis is reached the enzymes are inactivated by heat. The digest is centrifuged to remove undigested material and residual oil, ultrafiltered to set the molecular weight window, and treated with activated carbon or adsorbent resin where a pale, bland powder is required, a step that also removes part of any residual aflatoxin. The clarified liquor is concentrated under vacuum, pasteurised and spray dried, and the powder is sieved, checked for metal, tested again for aflatoxin, and packed.
