Chicken feathers are major byproducts of the livestock
processing
industry with high potential in the feed sector. In this study, we
present a new approach using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
to detect the structural changes of feather keratin and its availability
for enzymatic hydrolysis (AEH) induced by the thermal pressure hydrolysis
(TPH) process. Compared to time-consuming in vitro measurement techniques,
the proposed method provides rapid information about the structural
changes during TPH which enables quick adaptation of TPH conditions
as the quality of the incoming feather changes. By analyzing the FTIR
spectra of raw and processed feathers, it was found that AEH negatively
relates to the β-sheet content (represented by two IR peaks
centered at 1635 and 1689 cm–1), while it positively
relates to a new series of peaks centered around 1700 cm–1 appearing after the TPH process. The proposed FTIR technique provides
a reliable and rapid approach to determine the digestibility indicated
by AEH of the processed feather and may be used in process control
and optimization.
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