Two rapeseed protein isolates corresponding to albumins and globulins, respectively, were produced from an industrial defatted rapeseed meal. A pilot-scale process of protein extraction has been developed to remove major anti-nutritional compounds, easy to scale-up and using recyclable solvents. The kinetics of the hydrolyses of these two protein substrates using Alcalase 2.4L (R) were compared by the measurement of the degree of hydrolysis (DH) when varying the initial proteins and enzyme concentrations. The globulins isolate was hydrolysed more efficiently than the albumins isolate mainly due to the compact and globular conformation of albumin (napin). Kinetic parameters have been determined for both substrates and a log-linear relation has been established between the DH values at a definite time and the initial enzyme/substrate ratio. Such relationships allow an effective monitoring of hydrolysis process since the hydrolysates analysis using reverse-phase chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry revealed that peptide maps corresponding to peptides of molecular weight inferior to 1 kDa are similar at a specific DH, independently of the reaction temperature and initial concentrations of substrate and enzyme. Thus, it is demonstrated that the DH is the sole parameter needed to control the physico-chemical properties and consequently the functionalities (solubility, foaming and emulsifying properties) which depend on the nature of peptides present in the hydrolysates. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.