EFFECT OF NEEM PLANT BARK EXTRACT (AZADIRACHTA INDICA) ON LEATHER TANNING

Thesis Abstract

Leather is a durable and flexible material created by the tanning of animal raw hide and skin, primarily cattle hide. It was extensively used from the primitive times and is widely used today (Convington, 2009). In prehistoric times man was concerned mainly with eating or collecting the food, clothing did not exist. The desire for the clothing is dedicated towards hunting. The primitive man realized that animal he hunted was not only for food but can also be used for their clothing purpose. Hence they started using animal skins to satisfy their clothing needs. Animal skin was first worn by the people in the Paleolithic period. Later on man realized that the skins rapidly putrefied and thus became useless. They needed a way to preserve the hides,(Marion and Roy, 2006). People found that the quality of the leather could be improved so they started preserving the hides/skins by rubbing them with fats and animal brains, these primitive people also preserved the skin by the smoke of wood fire but this procedure had a limited preserving and softened action. Later on tannin from the bark of certain trees was used to convent raw skins into soft material, today which is known as “vegetable tanning (Convington, 2009).