Abstract: The enzymatic hydrolysis conditions of wheat gluten by pancreatin treatment based on the results of emulsifying property index were optimized systematically. The functional features of the hydrolysate, including antioxidant activity, molecular weight, amino acid composition, were further studied. Results showed that the optimal conditions were:the ratio of proteases and substrate 1%, 45℃, pH7.5. Under these conditions, emulsifying property index reached to 35.38m2/g and the degree of hydrolysis was 4.73% and the emulsifying capacity of wheat gluten was been significantly improved. The hydrolysate under the optimal conditions exhibited DPPH radical scavenging activity, which was significantly lower than that of VC, and very high metal chelating activity on ferrous. Molecular weight of peptides in the hydrolysate accounted for 65.99% of 200 ¹000u. 15 amino acids were detected in the hydrolysate, and glutamic acid (30.48%) contributed most to the phenolic compounds. Peptides might play an important role to the functional features.