Leather Science and Engineering ›› 2020, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (5): 44-48.doi: 10.19677/j.issn.1004-7964.2020.05.008

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Application of Protease K on Enzymatic Unhairing of Bovine Hide

CHEN Mei1, CHEN Liwei1, LI He1, CHEN Min1,2, CHENG Haiming1,2,*   

  1. 1. National Engineering Research Center of Clean Technology in Leather Industry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China;
    2. Key Laboratory of Leather Chemistry and Engineering of Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
  • Received:2020-03-09 Online:2020-09-25

Abstract: Unhairing is an important and necessary process for leather making, and enzymatic unhairing method is a cleaner technology due to its hair-saving strategy and no harmful gas discharge. In this paper, the enzymatic unhairing process of bovine hide by proteinase K was explored from the conditions of enzyme dosage, temperature and pH. To determine the unhairing process, the content of total protein and hydroxyproline in the unhairing float were analyzed, and the morphologies of the unhaired grain and collagen fiber were observed. The results showed that protease K has the ability to hydrolyze casein and collagen fibers, and the optimal unhairing conditions for unhairing of bovine hide were found as the following: the enzyme dosage was 150 U per gram hide, temperature was at 35 ℃, pH was at 8.0, and the unhairing time was 5 h.

Key words: proteinase K, enzymatic unhairing, leather making, bovine hide

CLC Number: