Extraction and application of keratin from natural resources: a review

• Main Authors: Chilakamarry, Chaitanya Reddy, Syed, Mahmood, Siti Nadiah, Mohd Saffe, Mohd Azmir, Arifn, Gupta, Arun, Mohamed Yacin, Sikkandar, S Sabarunisha, Begum, Narasaiah, Boya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021
• Subjects: T Technology (General); TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/31991/1/3biotech%20CR.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/31991/; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13205-021-02734-7; https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-021-02734-7

Over recent years, keratin has gained great popularity due to its exceptional biocompatible and biodegradable nature. It has shown promising results in various industries like poultry, textile, agriculture, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical. Keratin is a multipurpose biopolymer that has been used in the production of fbrous composites, and with necessary modifcations, it can be developed into gels, flms, nanoparticles, and microparticles. Its stability against enzymatic degradation and unique biocompatibility has found their way into biomedical applications and regenerative medicine. This review discusses the structure of keratin, its classifcation and its properties. It also covers various methods by which keratin is extracted like chemical hydrolysis, enzymatic and microbial treatment, dissolution in ionic liquids, microwave irradiation, steam explo�sion technique, and thermal hydrolysis or superheated process. Special emphasis is placed on its utilisation in the form of hydrogels, flms, fbres, sponges, and scafolds in various biotechnological and industrial sectors. The present review can be noteworthy for the researchers working on natural protein and related usage