Ficus hispida leaf paste for goatskin preservation: Pollution reduction in tannery wastewater

Abstract

AbstractWet salting preservation is commonly practiced to preserve raw hide/skin which discharges high salinity wastewater during soaking operation of hide/skin processing. The saline wastewater significantly pollutes the environment. In this study, a novel plant‐based approach has been made to preserve the goatskin to reduce pollution in tannery wastewater. The Ficus hispida plant leaf paste with a minimal amount of common salt was applied on the flesh side of raw goatskin. Efficacy of the method was evaluated by scrutinizing thermal stability, hair slip, odor, moistness percentage, Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen, and bacterial count in comparison with the conventional wet salting preservation method for 28 days. Pollution load in the wastewater, for example, total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), chloride (Cl−), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) was measured following the APHA method. Results indicate that the novel plant‐based method has decreased the pollution load of Cl−, TDS, TSS, BOD, and COD in the tannery wastewater by 51.02%, 41.6%, 37.1%, 2.9%, and 14.6%, respectively. Leather produced from the experimentally preserved goatskin illustrates similar physical properties in comparison to the leather produced from conventionally preserved goatskin. The proposed preservation technique of goatskin in combination with lower salt might be an ecological alternative that could decrease the pollution load especially in soaking operation.