Preservation of bovine hide using less salt with low concentration of antiseptic, part II: Impact of developed formulations on leather quality And environment

Authors: Sarker, Majher; LONG III, WILBERT - Orise Fellow; Piazza, George; Latona, Nicholas - Nick; Liu, Cheng Kung

Submitted to: Journal of American Leather Chemists Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/14/2018
Publication Date: 9/14/2018
Citation: Sarker, M.I., Long III, W., Piazza, G.J., Latona, N.P., Liu, C. 2018. Preservation of bovine hide using less salt with low concentration of antiseptic, part II: Impact of developed formulations on leather quality And environment. Journal of American Leather Chemists Association. 113:335-342.

Interpretive Summary: Raw bovine hides need to be transported to the tannery or exported to the foreign countries for converting them into leather. As a result, at least short term preservation is required for fresh hides. Currently, commercial hide preservation requires table salt weighing approximately half of the hide or 95% saturation of brine solution. All this salt ends up in waste water during soaking step of leather precessing which generates a huge pollution problem by increasing salinity of the soil leading barren environments. ARS scientists at Wyndmoor, PA have developed formulations for hide preservation where 45% saturation of brine solution combining with anti-microbial agent is used, which cuts the salt usage by more than 50%. The newly developed formulations have been found more effective in limiting microbial growth on cured hide for a longer time than the traditional process and thus preserve hides for more than 30 days. Post-leather analysis reveals that the leather produced from the hides which are cured by the newly developed formulas are comparable in quality to the leather obtained from traditionally preserved hide. The advantages of the alternative system are also assessed by monitoring the environmental impacts caused by the leather processing effluents. Therefore, this new method is feasible and industrially preferable replacement for the traditional hide curing process.

Technical Abstract: The traditional method for bovine hide preservation requires approximately 40-50% sodium chloride on raw hide weight or 95% saturated brine solution in case of wet salting. All this salt fall into wastewater during the soaking process and generates a huge amount of pollution and salinity in the form of total dissolved solids (TDS) and chlorides (Cl-) during leather processing. The current research has developed antiseptic based formulation for bovine hide curing where 45% saturated brine solution is used. The newly developed formulations have been found more effective in limiting microbial growth on cured hide than the conventional method preserving the bovine hide for more than 30 days and the results are recorded in previous publication. In this study, post-leather analysis e.g. grain pattern, scanning electron microscopic images, mechanical properties and organoleptic evaluation reveal that the crust leather produced from alternatively cured hides are comparable to the control obtained from traditionally preserved hide. The efficacy of the alternative system is also assessed by monitoring the environmental impacts caused by the leather processing effluents on the basis of TDS and chloride content, total solids (TS), total aerobic bacterial counts in soaking liquor, Bio-Chemical oxygen demand (BOD) and Chemical oxygen demand (COD). The environmental advantages of the alternative hide curing method are determined particularly by 50% reduction of TDS and chloride content. Therefore, this new method is feasible and industrially preferable replacement for the traditional hide curing process.