Valorization of Livestock Keratin Waste: Application in Agricultural Fields

Huayi Chen, Shuang Gao, Yongtao Li, Hui-Juan Xu, Wenyan Li, Jinjin Wang and Yulong Zhang
Additional contact information
Huayi Chen: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Joint Institute for Environmental Research & Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Shuang Gao: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Joint Institute for Environmental Research & Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Yongtao Li: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Joint Institute for Environmental Research & Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Hui-Juan Xu: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Joint Institute for Environmental Research & Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Wenyan Li: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Joint Institute for Environmental Research & Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Jinjin Wang: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Joint Institute for Environmental Research & Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
Yulong Zhang: College of Natural Resources and Environment, Joint Institute for Environmental Research & Education, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: Livestock keratin waste is a rich source of protein. However, the unique structure of livestock keratin waste makes its valorization a great challenge. This paper reviews the main methods for the valorization of livestock keratin waste, which include chemical, biological, and other novel methods, and summarizes the main agricultural applications of keratin-based material. Livestock keratin waste is mainly used as animal feed and fertilizer. However, it has promising potential for biosorbents and in other fields. In the future, researchers should focus on the biological extraction and carbonization methods of processing and keratin-based biosorbents for the soil remediation of farmland.

Keywords: biochar; environment; feathers; ionic liquid; keratinases; sustainability; wool (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/11/6681/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/11/6681/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:11:p:6681-:d:828012

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().