The present invention provides a protein having saponin-decomposing activity,
more specifically a protein which can decompose a glycoside having soyasapogenol
B as an aglycone to produce soyasapogenol B, a polynucleotide encoding such a protein,
and a method of producing soyasapogenol B on a large scale using the same. A protein
according to the present invention are concerned with (a), (b) or (c), namely (a)
a protein comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting
of the amino acid sequences shown in SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, and 6; (b) a protein that
has at least 50% homology to the protein comprising the amino acid sequence of
the sequence described in (a) and having saponin-decomposing activity; or (c) a
protein comprising a modified amino acid sequence of the sequence described in
(a) that has one or more amino acid residues deleted, substituted, inserted, or
added and having saponin-decomposing activity.