Short term preservation of cattlehide for food and leather use

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: In the past 20 years, increasing interest has developed in the use of cattle hides as a source of collagen for food use. A preliminary requirement of such a process is the development of food-quality preservation methods for the freshly flayed hide. Such methods should be economically feasible and suitable for adaptation into current slaughterhouse and tannery practices. The present study involved an extensive literature search of both current and experimental methods of preservation for both cattlehide and related food products (meats and collagen).

Findings and Conclusions: Results of this study revealed that little research on food-grade preservation of hides has been done. Many food-quality preservation processes would make the resultant hide unsuitable for possible leather use, and current leather preservation techniques are unsuitable for food use. Hides which have suffered only mechanical damage, and not bacterial damage, may be used as a collagen source even though unsuitable for leather production. The key to both food- and leather-quality preservation apparently is dependent upon control of the water activity (aw) of the hide to prevent and/or delay both microbial and enzymatic reactions.