An Enzyme or Polymer-Assisted Shrink-Resist Treatment of Wool

Summary

An Enzyme-based process for treatment of wool top to improve its felting resistance is described. This process utilises lipase SP 398 in the pre-treatment step, glutathione reductase (GR) in the reduction step, and papain in the after-treatment step. GR is
used as a catalyst in the reduction of the disulphide bonds in wool keratin together with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate in the reduced form (NADPH). The effect of the different reaction parameters, during the reduction step, on the felting resistance of wool treated with this system is monitored. Wool tops treated with lipase SP 398 / GR / NADPH / papain system showed good felting resistance as compared with untreated wool, but still inferior to that of the chlorine/Hercosett process. The tenacity and weight loss of treated wool are also reported. ScanningElectron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) showed insignificant attack of papain on wool.

This paper was first published on the earlier Egytex website. The text above is the summary that was published there.