Enzyme-Accelerated Acid Hydrolysis of Untanned Proteinaceous Wastes from Tanning Industry

Traditionally, tanning industry has been producing considerable amounts of solid wastes, which raises serious concerns on account of their environmental impact. Out of these, untanned raw trimmings account for about 5-7% of the total quantity of raw materials processed. This waste could be a value-added cheap source of collagen, which has numerous industrial applications if properly and scientifically utilized. This research work deals with the utilization of raw trimmings of solid waste from tanneries in the process of enzymatic hydrolysis, performed by using acetic acid and protease, in order to obtain protein hydrolysate. The hydrolysis was carried out with varying acid concentrations, acid solutions, temperatures and times. The maximum obtained protein hydrolysate was about 88% at 1.5 M acid concentration, 4% enzyme ratio, and 60 °C.