The product is a potent enzyme in gastric juice that digests proteins such as those in meat, eggs, seeds, and dairy products.
Studies on gastric digestion from 1820-1840 led to the discovery of the product as the substance which, in the presence of stomach acid, causes nutrients including meat or coagulated egg whites to dissolve. Soon afterward, it was shown that these protein nutrients were cleaved by the product to products called peptones.