*2.1. Materials*

The by-products of stripped weakfish (*Cynoscion guatucupa*) were obtained from a fishing company in the city of Rio Grande (RS, Brazil). The carcasses and trimmings were processed in a meat–bone separator (High Tech, HT250C, Chapecó, Brazil), discarding the skin and bones. The resulting muscle was packed in plastic bags and stored at −18 ◦C until use. Protamex enzyme purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA) was used in the hydrolysis process. Maltodextrin with a dextrose equivalent (DE) of 5 was purchased from Manuel Riesgo S.A. (Madrid, Spain). All chemical reagents used in this study were of analytical grade.
