Utilization of Improved Indigenous Tannins of Grain Powder (Acacia Nilotica) in Eco Friendly Tannage

Abstract

New tanning mixture was investigated to improve the performance of indigenous tanning materials. Many experiments were conducted in National Leather Technology Centre, Sudan using a blend of 80% Acacia nilotica pods ‘Garad’ and 20% azadirachta indica ‘Neem’ barks. The spray-dried powder from a mixture of Acacia nilotica pods and azadirachta indica ‘Neem’ was applied for full vegetable tanning to produce shoe upper leathers. The physico-mechanical properties of the improved tanned leather were compared with conventionally tanned leather. The pretannage and full vegetable tannage were preceded using accustomed method in NLTC, Sudan while physio-mechanical analyses of the leather were performed using AOAC (1996). Parameters of the tanned leather were tensile strength (20.0 N/Cm2), tear strength (4.4 N/cm), stitch tear strength (11.8 N/cm), elongation (40.5%), distension and strength of grain (8.9 mm) and shrinkage temperature (>82°C). The results showed that the ‘Garad - Neem’ blend significantly enhanced the quality of tanned leather to almost double the level of the leather tanned by conventional pure Acacia nilotica pods ‘Garad’ power.