Effective preservation of raw goat skins for the reduction of total dissolved solids

Raw hides and skins serve as the raw material for leather making industries. The main constituent of these raw materials is protein with about 70% of moisture and they are susceptible to microbial attack; it is essential to preserve the protein matrix of skin/hide before converting it into leather. Though the preservation of skin/hide by using common salt to an extent of 40-50% (w/w) is widely practised, this method generates a huge amount of pollution in the form of total dissolved solids (TDS) and chlorides (Cl) during leather processing. Therefore various investigating groups have been involved in alternative curing systems. With this view, an attempt has been made to evolve a less-salt (5% salt with sodium meta-bisulphate) and salt-less (sodium meta-bisulphate only) curing system for pollution abatement. The results obtained are discussed on the basis of TDS reduction, control of microbial population in the raw state during curing, changes in physical, biochemical, microbiological, thermal characteristics of the preserved skin and the mechanical properties of the leather made out of the experimental skins.