Preparation of double action surfactant using protein hydrolyzate from fleshing waste and its utilization as a lubricant with retanning property in leather making

Leather fleshing are generated during beam house leather processes when lower layer of skin is scrapped off through sharp knife. generally these are thrown out in land area as waste material without any proper treatment. collagen protein hydrolyzate was recovered by alkaline hydrolysis and further reacted with fatty acid ester product from glycerol. the reaction was promoted by direct addition of alkaline catalyst. the yield of fatty acyl amido carboxylic acid based surfactant was found excellent calculated based on raw extracted collagen protein hydrolyzate. in this study,prepared product was applied in wet blue split from cow hide as a fatliquoring agent with additional retanning property. investigations were also focused on the characteristics of prepared leather to evaluate the effect of product on resulted leather. the results of standard physical characteristics such as tensile strength,tear strength,% age elongation at break,softness,etc. showed significant improvement with lubricating effect on leather through smoothness of surface. in this way,a waste is converted into a useful surfactant product. © pakistan academy of sciences.