Enzymic hydrolysis was used to recover a potentially edible high protein hydrolysate from mechanically deboned turkey residue (MDTR), a turkey processing waste. The hydrolysis process reduced the weight of the original MDTR by 51% on a dry weight basis, and recovered 46% of the MDTR proteins. The hydrolysate contained 78% protein, 4.6% ash and only 5.7% fat. The proteins consisted mainly of amino acids and small peptides with molecular masses lower than 6.5 kD due to a high degree of hydrolysis (65-70%), and were very soluble in water over a wide pH range. It had a yellowish colour was rich in calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium and had a large monolayer value, but had low viscosity and low emulsion capacity at pH values of 4, 7 and 10. Its buffering capacity was at a minimum between pH 5 and 7.