The Effects of Tanning with Kepok Banana (Musa Paradisiaca L) Bunch on the Physical Quality of Rabbit Skin

Abstract

Vegetable tanning is leather tanning using tanning agents derived from plants. Utilization of mimosa (as a source of tannins from Acacia wood) for tanning materials has various weaknesses in terms of influence on the environment. Kepok banana (Musa paradisiaca L.) bunch is one of the abundant banana waste and not yet utilized. Banana bunches contain 2-5% tannins so they have the potential to be used as tanning agent. Although the tannin content is not high, it is still possible to be used as tanning agent for small-sized skin, such as rabbit skin. This study aimed to determine the physical quality of rabbit skin that wastanned with banana bunches. The results showed that Kepok banana bunches can be used as a good tanning material that is environmentally friendly. The use of Kepok banana (Musa paradisiaca L.) bunch as tanning material had a significant effect (P <0.05) on physical quality of rabbit skin. With 25% Kepok banana (Musa pardisiaca L.) bunch as tanning agent, the tanning process could produce leather sheets that met Indonesian National Standard (SNI) no 06-0237-1989 with 1.17 mm of thickness, 4.7 mm of softness, 12.02 kg/cm of tear strength, 239.55 kg/cm2 of tensile strength, and 174.12% of elongation.