A Pilot Scale Study on the Extraction & Optimization of Keratin from Human Hair – An Adapted Strategy for the Control of Environmental Menace

Abstract

Large aggregates of the keratin based pollutants are known to cause intense threat in contaminating the environment of contact region than in the discrete region. Diversifying the application of keratin could be a promising phenomenon for reducing the keratin pollution. Accordingly, the undertaken work was designed to optimize the parameters for the keratin extraction from human hair with a potential source of application in the environment. Sequence of the effective extraction dealt with pre-treatment of human hair with a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate), followed by the digestion of hair with sodium sulfide (Na2S) at pH 12 - 14 and then stirred with magnetic stirrer at 50C. The aliquot was then centrifuged at pH of 3 - 4, following which the precipitated keratin was extracted, dried and pulverized. The conformational study of the extracted keratin was done by performing Ninhydrin test and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The extracted keratin can be exploited in several applications such as, active component in bone replacement, hydro-gel preparation, cosmetics, scaffold preparation, bio degradable films etc. Hence, this work highlighted on the optimal isolation of pure keratin from human hair, paving away the environmental pollutants and advent a healthy grid of societal benefit.