Hydrolysis

hydrolysis (Gr. hydro: water, lysis: splitting) chemical process by which a molecule is split into smaller parts by absorption of water. An example is hydrolysis of animal or vegetable protein to release a free amino acid, such as glutamate. Autolysis is a special case of hydrolysis, which takes place without any external means; for example, the hydrolysis of yeast proteins to produce yeast extract with the help of the yeast’s own enzymes.