Pepton

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A soluble protein fragment formed by the breakdown of proteins during digestion or chemical treatment
2. Any of the intermediate products resulting from the partial hydrolysis of proteins in the digestive process
3. A water-soluble compound derived from protein by enzymatic or acid digestion, typically used in laboratory culture media

Etymology: Peptone is a scientific coinage built from the Greek "peptein," meaning "to cook" or "to digest." The same root gave the Greek "pepsis," digestion, and it lies behind the English "dyspepsia," meaning indigestion. Peptone names the partly broken-down protein that results when digestive enzymes act on proteins, which is why the name points to the stomach. The term was made in German scientific writing as "Pepton" and passed into English from there. Its sibling "pepsin," the stomach enzyme that breaks proteins into such fragments, was named from the same Greek stem, so the two terms were built on the idea of digestion as a kind of cooking.