Mehta, M., Naffa, R., Maidment, C. et al. RAMAN AND ATR-FTIR SPECTROSCOPY TOWARDS CLASSIFICATION OF WET BLUE BOVINE LEATHER USING RATIOMETRIC AND CHEMOMETRIC ANALYSIS. J Leather Sci Eng 2, 3 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42825-019-0017-5

Looseness’ is a major concern to the leather industry. The author has investigated wet blue leather which is chrome-tanned leather obtained from two regions of bovine – distal axilla (DA), i.e., from the flank side and official sampling position (OSP), i.e., from near the central lower region. The aim is to obtain a better understanding of how tight and loose wet blue leather might be differentiated through measurement, since the OSP and DA regions typically give tighter or looser leathers, respectively. They have developed a model using a non-destructive technique – Raman and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy that can identify the looseness fault at an early stage of the leather production that not only will save time but also minimize the costs incurred by looseness. By studying the spectral changes in the secondary structures of Amide I region of the collagen, both DA and OSP wet blue samples were differentiated quantitatively with high accuracy using ratiometric analysis supported with logistic regression. Further, from multivariate analysis, they have shown that there is a perfect classification between the two leather groups based on protein and lipid content. The results from their studies will serve as an excellent model for rapid diagnosis of leather quality using non-destructive vibrational spectroscopy techniques for the global leather industry.