Abstract

Global environmental regulations are changing the leather industry. Conventional unhairing contributes most of the pollution in the industry, such as hydrogen sulfide and lime. Ever-increasing attention to the environmental impact of the leather industry has necessitated the development of enzymatic unhairing as a potent alternative to polluting chemicals. Enzymes are gaining increasing importance in the unhairing process, eliminating the need for sodium sulfide. This review discusses the enzymatic unhairing used in leather processing and introduces more information about enzymatic unhairing. This paper also summarises progress of enzymatic unhairing and looks ahead at its application prospect and development direction.