Content:
Sheepskin, a by-product of the meat industry, is then often processed to leather, primarily for the clothing industry. Where the tanneries are distant from the abattoirs and freezing works, the raw skins have to be transported long distances to be processed. In warm weather, there is the potential for putrefaction of the skins which then have to be disposed of at a cost. Depilation, the first step of leather processing, is designed to remove the wool from the skin without damaging it. Conventional depilation involves the use of strong alkali and sulfides, that are harmful to both the environment and the personnel carrying out the process due to the potential production of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic, flammable gas. To solve this problem, scientists have been looking to depilate skins using enzymes as these are environmentally friendly. Various enzymes, such as collagenase, keratinase, protease and lipase have been shown to be able to remove hair from skin, but unfortunately usually damage it. Furthermore, at present, they are not cost effective at an industrial level.
We have found a simple solution, a derivative of a dairy by-product, that prevents putrefaction, preserving the skin for days at room temperature. In addition, it allows easy removal of the wool from the skin.
Scanning electron microscopy showed there was no obvious damage to the surface of the depilated skin and that the wool is cleanly removed from the hair follicle. To assess any less visible damage that may
have occurred as a result of soaking the skin, biochemical analyses were carried out to measure the changes to the amino acid composition, collagen crosslinks and proteoglycan concentrations of the
depilated skins. Sheepskin depilated with this method was processed to leather and its physical properties such as tear, and tensile strength analysed. Culture dependent methods were used to isolate the
microorganisms present in the solution after depilation, showed that only four main species were consistently found in the depilation fluid and on the skins. Metagenomic analysis, confirmed these findings
and was used to follow the changes in the microbiome during the course of depilation. This presentation will describe the progress that has been made to understand the science behind these observations and compare the properties of skins depilated using this method with those depilated using the traditional beamhouse process.
Take-Away:
We are using a natural product to depilate sheepskin.
The sheepskin is also preserved while depilation.
Microscopy, chemical analyses, physical tests, and metagenomics analysis were done to understand the process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:34328 |
| Date | 28 June 2019 |
| Creators | Tu, Yi-Hsuan, Ahn, M., Patchett, M. L., Naffa, R., Gagic, D., Norris, G. E. |
| Contributors | International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies |
| Publisher | Verein für Gerberei-Chemie und -Technik e. V., Forschungsinstitut für Leder und Kunststoffbahnen (FILK) gGmbH |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:conferenceObject, info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa2-340872, qucosa:34087 |
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