Abstract: The breaking strength and radical-scavenging activity in vitro of gel formed by the hydrolysates incorporated with SPI were investigated. The gel-forming ability of mixtures consisted of SPI and its hydrolysate decreased as the percentage of hydrolysate increased. The causes of inferior gel-forming ability were due to the lower surface hydrophobicity of hydrolysates and less sulfhydryl exchange reaction during the course of gelation. We concluded that the 3:7～4:6 ratio of hydrolysates and SPI solutions was the apropos ratio for the formation of self-supporting gel, which possessed the higher radical-scavenging activity againstD PPH-radical.

Key words: soy peptides, peptide-based gel, antioxidative activity