Amino Acid Enriched Proteinous Wastes: Recovery and Reuse in Leather Making

Environmental constraints have become the key issue for sustenance of industries worldwide. In leather industry, solid wastes create major problem to the environment, among which animal fleshing constitute a major portion. The main objective of this study is to evolve a simple, eco-benign method for the utilization of solid wastes to produce value added product. The product was developed by hydrolysis using alkaline protease (a novel Bacillus crolab 5468), which can be potentially used for surface upgradation of leather. Molecular mass of the polypeptides was found to be 9 kDa at 30 min and 6 kDa at 60 min of hydrolysis by MALDI-TOF. Furthermore, the polypeptides treated leather exhibited uniform grain pattern, better filling and strength properties compared to untreated leather. High value-added product presents a strong case for sustainable leather production as it adds both economic and environmental benefits to leather making.