Bioscouring of Cotton Fabrics using Pectinase Enzyme its Optimization and Comparison with Conventional Scouring Process

Abstract

The conventional scouring process involving the harsh environment is slowly being replaced with environment friendly approach using enzymes. These enzymes remove the non cellulosic impurities present in the fabric. Such a process would enhance the absorbency of the fabric without appreciable strength loss and also would help in the proper dyeing and finishing of the fabric. In the present work pectinase enzyme was isolated from Fusariumn sp. and was optimized under different cultural conditions. The partially purified pectinase enzyme was used in the scouring of cotton fabric. The efficiency of the bioscoured cotton fabric was compared with that of the conventionally scoured fabric. It was found that the water absorbing character of the bioscoured fabric was found to be considerably higher than that of the conventionally scoured fabric. Also, the tensile strength of the cotton fabric was found to be higher for the sample treated using pectinase enzyme than the sample treated conventionally. The results of FTIR confer that the pectin and wax impurities were removed from the cotton surface in both the conventionally scoured and bioscoured fabrics.

Microbial pectinases: an ecofriendly tool of nature for industries

“…Klug-Santner and coworkers ( 2006 ) reported nearly 80 % removal of pectin from the outer layer of cotton using pectate lyase from Bacillus pumilus BK2. While working on bioscouring of cotton fabric with pectinase isolated from Fusarium sp., Rajendran and coworkers ( 2011 ) found that, the weight of the fabric was reduced up to 0.89 % in comparison with the 4.9 % reduction in weight of the fabric by conventional alkaline scouring. Water absorbing character and tensile strength of the bioscoured fabric was higher than that of conventionally scoured fabric.…”

“…It makes the fibre surface more hydrophilic (Li and Hardin 1998 ). Bioscouring also avoids high energy consumption and severe pollution problems that are associated with conventional alkaline scouring (Rajendran et al 2011 ). Pectinases also prevent fiber damage (Jayani et al 2005 ; Klug-Santner et al 2006 ).…”

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“…It makes the fibre surface more hydrophilic 35 . Bio-scouring also avoids high energy consumption and severe pollution problems that are associated with conventional alkaline scouring 36 Pectinases prevent fiber damage 37 . Animal Feed: The use of pectinases in the manufacturing of bovine feed reduces feed viscosity and promotes ruminant nutrient absorption, liberates nutrients by enzymatic action, and reduces stool output 2,34 Improvements in animal performance owing to enzyme additions can be attributed mostly to improved ruminal fiber digestion, which leads to increased digestible energy intake 38 .…”

Non-Cellulosic Polysaccharides from Cotton Fibre Are Differently Impacted by Textile Processing

“…From these treatments, scouring has been shown to remove pectins (and waxes) from cotton [16] . Many studies have been performed to improve the efficiency [17] , [18] , to shorten the time [16] , [19] or to reduce the ecological impact [13] of the different chemical treatments. Recent literature has focused on the addition of other compounds to the fabrics [20] or on improving cellulose functionalization [21] – [23] to improve dyeability or other desired textile characteristics.…”