Preservation of Bovine Hide Using Less Salt with Low Concentration of Antiseptic, Part II: Impact of Developed Formulations on Leather Quality and the Environment

Abstract

The traditional method for bovine hide preservation requiresapproximately 40-50% sodium chloride on raw hide weight or95% saturated brine solution in case of wet salting. This saltresides in wastewater after the soaking process and generates ahuge environmental pollution in the form of total dissolvedsolids (TDS) and chlorides (Cl-) during leather processing. Thecurrent research has developed antiseptic based hide curingformulation using 45% saturated brine solution which reduces50% salt usage in compare to traditional method. The newlydeveloped formulations have been found more effective inlimiting microbial growth on cured hide than the conventionalmethod preserving the bovine hide for more than 30 days. Inthis study, post-leather analysis e.g. grain pattern, scanningelectron microscopic images, mechanical properties andorganoleptic evaluation reveal that the crust leather producedfrom alternatively cured hides are comparable to the controlobtained from traditionally preserved hide. The efficacy of thealternative system is also assessed by monitoring theenvironmental impacts caused by the leather processingeffluents 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 hidecuring method are determined particularly by 50% reduction ofTDS and chloride content. Therefore, this new method is feasibleand industrially preferable to the traditional hide curing process.