\Pep"tone\, n. [Gr. ? cooked.] (Physiol. Chem.)
(a) The soluble and diffusible substance or substances into
    which albuminous portions of the food are transformed by
    the action of the gastric and pancreatic juices. Peptones
    are also formed from albuminous matter by the action of
    boiling water and boiling dilute acids.
(b) Collectively, in a broader sense, all the products
    resulting from the solution of albuminous matter in
    either gastric or pancreatic juice. In this case,
    however, intermediate products (albumose bodies), such as
    antialbumose, hemialbumose, etc., are mixed with the true
    peptones. Also termed albuminose.
Note: Pure peptones are of three kinds, amphopeptone,
      antipeptone, and hemipeptone, and, unlike the albumose
      bodies, are not precipitated by saturating their
      solutions with ammonium sulphate.