AN/TN is a ratio used all the time to gauge the enzymatic process of hyrolysis of proteins.
AN stands for amino nitrogen and TN stands for total nitrogen. not to completely confuse anyone and i will try to explain it as easy as i can. hydrolysis is the process breaking peptide bonds into smaller bonds (di and tri peptides, etc.) when this process happens a new amino group is released. this increase of amino groups increases amino nitrogen. AN divides by TN to give you the ratio number. this number essentially is an estimate of the degree of hydrolysis of that protein.
i hope that made sense. most proteins out today that say they are 100% hydrolyzed, hell i see it all the time, are very much misconcieving the public. they neccessarily are not telling a lie, but they are not telling the full truth either. when they say 100% hydrolyzed, they mean there are not other proteins added, but who cares if it is 100% hydrolyzed, what matters is to what degree is it hydrolyzed.
in the market most "hydrolyzed" proteins i see retail around 8% AN/TN, on a higher end a good general hydrolyzed protein is around 12-15% AN/TN and the sky is the limit from there.
now granted my explanation leaves a lot to be desired as in leaving much out of the equation and more goes into it than just above. but it is a good start, none the less for our needs.
thanks,
doug