EXTRACTION OF ELASTIN FROM TANNERY WASTES: A CLEANER TECHNOLOGY FOR TANNERY WASTE MANAGEMENT

Abstract During leather processing, most of the trimmed raw skins/hides are thrown as wastes which require solid waste management. In the present study, raw hide trimming wastes have been used as the source for extracting elastin. Elastin is extracted from raw trimming wastes through thermo-chemical treatment method using alkali pre-treatments. The physical characterization using differential scanning calorimetry showed the melting point at 104°C. Elastin has shown higher denaturation temperature above 275°C and thermal gravimetric shows six mass loss steps. Through thermo-chemical extraction method, 90% of yield has obtained. From various characterization results, it is observed that extracted elastin is chemically confined with its physicochemical properties. Moreover, biocompatibility studies also confirm that the enhancement of cell proliferations in the presence of elastin, which makes it more non-toxic and biocompatible which makes it feasible for tissue engineering applications. The study provides an insight into tapping unused high-value products from tannery wastes.