Study of Enzyme-Active Bacteria Potentially Usable in Leather Production

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-837-0_21How to use a DOI?

Keywords

protease enzymes; leather production; eco-friendly; proteolytic bacteria; enzymatic dehairing

Abstract

As one of the most polluting industrial sectors, tanneries are notorious for producing enormous volumes of solid and liquid waste without adequate management or disposal. Due to the usage of several chemicals and the discharge of numerous harmful elements, the leather industry seriously pollutes the environment. Hence, it has been crucial to identify microorganisms that actively produce protease enzymes and investigate their potential use in the leather processing industry. In this study, a dehairing proteolytic bacterium was isolated and characterized for its potential application in eco-friendly leather processing. Among six isolated protease-active bacterial strains, isolate 20-1 exhibited robust proteolytic activities, and enzymatic production was optimized under submerged fermentation, yielding a maximum protease activity of 753.1 U/mL at 48 to 72 h of incubation. The crude enzyme extract demonstrated high thermostability (up to 55 ℃) and maintained activity across a broad pH range (4-12). Isolate 20-1 was further confirmed using 16s rDNA sequencing and has 100% sequence identity to Bacillus atrophaeus. A laboratory dehairing experiment showed that enzymatic dehairing using Bacillus atrophaeus 20-1 was effective in degrading hair proteins without damaging the collagen matrix and significantly reducing chemical usage (p< 0.05). These results suggest that Bacillus atrophaeus 20-1 has promising industrial applicability as a sustainable alternative to conventional dehairing agents, offering a practical and environmentally friendly approach to leather processing.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Bolor-Oyut Batbayar
AU  - Rentsenkhand Tserennadmid
AU  - Gantulga Davaakhuu
AU  - Enkhtsatsral Elbegbayar
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/09/17
TI  - Study of Enzyme-Active Bacteria Potentially Usable in Leather Production
BT  - Proceedings of the International Biological Conference in Mongolia 2025 (IBCM 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 307
EP  - 324
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-837-0_21
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-837-0_21
ID  - Batbayar2025
ER  -