Abstract

The importance of delayed curing is re-examined in the light of recent studies with hide collagenolytic bacteria. It is evident that the period of delayed curing can extend for as much as 6 to 12 h after salting hides for stack salting. This is due to the fact that salt has to penetrate into the hide from the flesh side and therefore it takes many hours before the salt content of the grain layer of the hide is sufficiently high to minimise bacterial activity. Therefore any factor which reduces the rate of salt penetration will extend the period of delayed curing and can cause grain decay.