Poultry feathers make up for as much as 8.5% of chicken weight and represent a considerable amount of almost pure keratin waste which is not being adequately utilized at the present time. The present study dealt with the processing of poultry feathers through a two-stage alkaline-enzymatic hydrolysis. In the first stage, feathers were mixed with a 0.1 or 0.3% KOH water solution in a 1 : 50 ratio and were incubated at 70°C for 24 h. After adjusting pH to 9, the effects examined in the second processing stage on the amount of degraded feathers were those of proteolytic enzyme additions (1-5%), time (4-8 h) and temperature (50-70°C). Processing feathers in 0.3% KOH and hydrolysing for 8 h in the second stage at 70°C with a 5% dose of enzyme (relative to dry feathers weight) produced approx. 91% degradation. Keratin hydrolysate is distinct for its high nitrogen content and reasonable inorganic solids level. Two-stage technology of alkaline-enzymatic hydrolysing of poultry feathers in an environment of 0.3% KOH achieves high efficiency under quite mild reaction conditions (temperature not exceeding 70°C with pH in a mildly alkaline region), and is feasible from an economic viewpoint. Keratin hydrolysate can find particular application in packaging technology (films, foils and encapsulates).

Faculty of Technology Department of Polymeric Engineering Tomas Bata University Zlin Czech Republic

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