A series of novel surfactants have been prepared by the reaction of hydrolyzed soy protein with alkyl succinic anhydride. These novel surfactants exhibit excellent surface active properties including surface tension, foaming, emulsifying, wetting power, and buffer ability. The hydrophobic modified protein exhibit more surface activity than original protein because of the enhanced hydrophobicity in structure. The increase in hydrophobic chain length leads to an increase in the surface activity. The surface tension reduction is correlated to the hydrophobicity of the modified molecule, which was determined by a fluorescent probe. In application on cotton bleaching procedures, these surfactants increase the whiteness of fabrics. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.