A Further Study on the Extraction of Reduced Proteins From Wool

Abstract

A study has been made on the extraction of reduced protein from wool by two methods. In one the aim has been to solubilize as much protein as possible and in the other to use the mildest conditions possible. In the first method extraction was made with potassium thioglycollate in the presence of urea and the variables temperature, pH, urea concentration, and thioglycollate concentration were studied. It was found that between 80 and 85% of wool can be solubilized at room temperature by 0-2M potassium thioglycollate at pH 10-5 in the presence of 6M urea. In the second method a total of more than 60% of the wool was solubilized; the highsulphur protein was first preferentially extracted by O· 8M potassium thioglycollate at pH 10'5 and O°C, and low-sulphur protein then released from the residue by plasmolysis by immersing the residue in ice-cold distilled water. The advantage of this method is that at no time does the temperature rise above O°C or the pH above 10-5.