Trypsin Inhibitor
Trypsin inhibitors are chemicals that reduce the availability of biologically active trypsin, an enzyme essential to nutrition of many animals, including humans.
There are four commercial sources of trypsin inhibitors.
| Source | Molecular weight | Inhibitatory power | Details |
| Serum (α1-antitrypsin) | 52 kDa | Also known as serum trypsin inhibitor | |
| Lima beans | 8-10 kDa | 2.2 times weight | There are six different lima bean inhibitors. |
| Bovine pancreas | 6.5 kDa | 2.5 times weight | Kunitz inhibitor, or BPTI (basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, is the best known pancreatic inhibitor. Chymotrypsin is also inhibited by this chemical, but less tightly. When extracted from lung tissue, this is known as aprotinin. |
| Ovomucoid | 8-10 kDa | 1.2 times weight | Ovomucoids are the glycoprotein protease inhibitors found in raw avian egg white. There are other protease inhibitors in ovomucoids as well. |
| Soybeans | 20.7-22.3 kDa | 1.2 times weight | Soybeans contain several inhibitors; the one in the chart is considered the primary one. All of them bind chymotrypsin to a lesser degree. |
A study revealing that protease inhibitor from the eggs of the freshwater snail Pomacea canaliculata, interacts as a trypsin inhibitor with the protease of potential predators, was reported in 2010, the first direct evidence for this mechanism in the animal kingdom.
Read more about Trypsin Inhibitor: See Also, Clinical Significance