This study focuses on circular bioeconomy and how to reduce the management of solid by-products in tannery facilities. To achieve this, double enzymatic hydrolysis has been developed, which allows the integrated management of both limed and fresh fleshing that are classified as category 3 animal by-products (ABPs). Fleshing has an average content of 15% fat, 20% protein and 65% water. To process these components independently, the fat fraction is separated from the protein and liquid protein fractions. This bioprocess has been developed from fleshing, yielding up to 78% mass recovery as biostimulants that are suitable for formulation and use in the fertiliser market. The efficacy of the protein fraction as a biostimulant was validated through laboratory tests, specifically by cabbage germination, which exhibited a notable improvement by 25%.
Keywords: Animal by-product; Biochemical sector; Bioeconomy; Biostimulants; Enzymatic hydrolysis; Leather industry; Protein recovery.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.