Zeitschrift für Kosmetologie und Trichologie

Recent Developments in Alternative Extraction Processes of Keratin from Keratinous Animal Body Parts as Active Ingredient for Hair care Products

Abstract

Ken Tasaki

Recently, keratin has been attracting intense attentions as an active ingredient for hair care products, given its unique nature such as rejuvenating and antiaging characteristics. Conventionally, keratin is extracted from keratinous animal body parts (KABPs) such as wool by chemical processes or in combination with enzymes. However, for extraction of keratin from KABPs requires large volumes of highly concentrated toxic chemicals, which is not environmentally sustainable. The time-consuming processes for the extraction and the removal of chemicals slow down the productivity. Lately, a number of alternative extraction processes have been reported. We will review these processes and examine their commercial viability. We also report the recent development in our alternative process based on thermal hydrolysis.