Articles - Leather Technology Magazine Nº79

Applications of Biotechnology in Leather

Mariliz Gutterres^1,, UAline Dettmer^1,, Luciani A. Amaral^1,, Franck R.
Souza1, Marcelo F. de Sousa2
^1,Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Chemical Engineering Department, Laboratory for Leather and Environment Studies (LACOURO) Rua Eng. Luiz Englert, s/no, 90.040-040, Porto Alegre – RS, Brasil
mariliz@enq.ufrgs.br
2Buckman Laboratories Ltda. Rod. Anhanguera km 1075, Sumaré – SP, Brasil
mfsousa@buckman.com

Applications of Biotechnology in Leather

Keywords: biotechnology, leather, enzymes.

ABSTRACT

There are any definitions for biotechnology, in according with the convention about biology diversity of ONU: “Biotechnology is the use of knowledge about biologic processes and about living beings
proprieties, with the end to resolve problems and create utility products”. In recent years the industries have seen a growth in the use of biotechnology, using processes like biocatalyst and biotransformation.
The use of biotechnology presents a lot of advantage for industries.
Some advantages are: commonly the reaction or biotechnological processes occur at low temperatures and at atmospheric pressure, the process has a high space-time yield, renewable ingredients and in many cases there is reduction of environment impact. In leather production,
biotechnology, mostly using enzymes, can be applied in different steps of process: soaking, unhairing, bating, dyeing, degreasing or in effluent and proteinaceous solid wastes treatment. In the present study, two processes of soaking and liming were tested, an enzyme-assisted test, using chemicals and enzymes, and a conventional test using only chemicals. From the analysis of chloride removal and fat removal from the hide and of SEM images, it was possible to realize that the enzyme-assisted is better when the variable in question is the time in the soaking, as well as it is more efficient for the unhairing stage. In other studies, the experiments to remove chromium from leather wastes
through enzymatic action, showed reduction of 53.7% of residues mass. Experments of waste treatment with bacterial Pseudomonas aeruginosas obtained reduction of 57.4% of chromium quantity presentinitially. So, biotechnology can be used in leather production and it will contribute for the reduction of pollution, principally, of soil and water.