Abstract
Global leather industry is undergoing a paradigm shift towards bioprocessing of hides and skins. Hence, the enzyme-based dehairing and fiber opening are becoming ecologically important. However, the enzymatic dehairing and fiber opening of buff calfskins results in non-removal of melanin leading to patches in the finished leather. In this study, an attempt has been made to remove the melanin from buff calfskins using various chemicals having reduction, oxidation or bleaching abilities. Preliminary trials have been carried out with various concentrations of chemicals in enzymatic dehairing and fiber opening processes. It was found that 1% dosage of sodium sulfite and sodium dithionite provides complete removal of melanin during enzymatic dehairing and fiber opening, respectively. The optimized chemicals and percentages were experimented at semi-technical scale. The removal of melanin was assessed visually and confirmed with scanning electron microscopy. UV–visible spectral analysis also substantiated the melanin removal by showing the disappearance of peak in the region of 300 nm using the optimized processes. The performance characteristics of the resulted leathers have been analyzed and are found to be satisfactory.
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Punitha, V., Kannan, P., Saravanabhavan, S. et al. Chemical degradation of melanin in enzyme based dehairing and fiber opening of buff calfskins. Clean Techn Environ Policy 11, 299–306 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-008-0159-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-008-0159-2