Swethashree Rajendran, Ashmitha Kalairaj and T. Senthilvelan*
industry due to their effectiveness in removing unwanted proteins under mild conditions, lowering energy use and minimizing harmful by-products. Traditional liming processes, which use large quantities of sodium sulfide and lime to dehair and breakdown interfibular proteins for chemical treatments, significantly contribute to environmental pollution through high levels of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS). This review examines the potential of Soybean Peroxidase (SBP) and Soybean Amylase (SBA), sourced from soybean hull and dust waste, as sustainable alternatives to the conventional liming step. Combining SBP and SBA in an optimized ratio provides a promising single-step method that may perform better at neutral pH and room temperature compared to other enzymatic treatments. This approach reduces various pollution loads and eliminates the need for the time and chemical-consuming reliming and deliming processes. The review emphasizes the benefits of using soybean enzymes from agro bio-waste to lessen environmental impact while aiming to maintain or enhance leather quality. By exploring the extraction, characterization and effects of SBP and SBA, this paper highlights improvements in leather properties with enzyme treatment compared to conventional methods. The use of soybean enzymes in leather processing represents a step toward a more sustainable and efficient production process, contributing to reduced pollution in tannery wastewater and overall industry sustainability.
