De-Oiled Karanja Cake as Potential Bio-Additive for Low Salt Raw Skin Preservation

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V. Brinda
N. Vedaraman
John Sundar
J. Kangaraj
K. C. Velappan
C Muralidharan

Abstract

The most commonly practiced preservation processes for raw hide/skin is by application of common salt (NaCl) due to its wide availability, cost effectiveness and bacteriostatic activity. During the soaking process, the salt present in the skin dissolves in water, thereby generating high total dissolved solids (TDS) levels causing pollution to the environment. Hence, an eco–friendly material without salt or with lower quantities of salt is needed for the preservation of the skin. In this present study Karanja de-oiled cake (Millettia/Pongamia pinnata) extract was studied for its antibacterial activity, minimal inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration for preservation. The reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analysis shows the presence of karanjin (0.2%) and pongamol (0.02%) and these compounds may be responsible for the antibacterial activity against skin deteriorating bacteria. The preservation trials with karanja de-oiled cake 15% along with less salt 15% showed no hair slip, no putrefaction, reduced bacterial load to approximately 35%, compared to control skins at 25º-35ºC for 21 days. The preserved skins on rehydration showed that the soak liquor of experimental skins had a considerable reduction in TDS (about 67%) compared with conventional soak liquor. On processing these skins into leather, the experimental skins were found to possess comparable strength properties (tensile, tear strength) and organoleptic properties as conventional salt-based preserved skins. This study concludes that conventional salt-based preservation of skins can be replaced by an eco-friendly preservation method using karanja de-oiled cake along with less salt. 

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