Processed fiber product, and method for production thereof

Abstract

A processed fiber product having excellent strength, water-absorbability and washing durability can be produced by attaching a partially hydrolyzed product of a wheat protein to a fiber and then allowing a transglutaminase to act on the fiber.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT / JP2008 / 071282, filed on Nov. 18, 2008, and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 299808 / 2007, filed on Nov. 19, 2007, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to processed fiber products and a method for producing the same using a transglutaminase and a protein or peptide.[0004]2. Discussion of the Background[0005]Polyester appeared as the last clothing fiber substrate in the 1950s, and since then no novel significant fiber substrate has been developed. Since the 1950s, insufficient properties of fiber substrates per se have been improved, for example, by modifying a fiber formation procedure such as a spinning procedure or by performing a so-called fiber processing for chemical functionalization. Methods for improving the wr...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0044]As shown in Table 1, all the processed silk fabrics, exhaustion-treated with the glutamine peptide A or B or the gelatin A, exhibited increased silk fiber strengths. Particularly the glutamine peptide A-treated fabric maintained the strength even after the washing, and exhibited the largest strength increase. It is clear from the results that the glutamine peptide A was firmly attached to the silk fabric surface by the transglutaminase reaction. In contrast, the gelatin-treated fabric did not have a sufficient tear strength. Thus, the method of the invention using the partially hydrolyzed wheat protein had more significant advantageous effects as compared with the method disclosed in JP-A-9-3773.

Problems solved by technology

Since the 1950s, insufficient properties of fiber substrates per se have been improved, for example, by modifying a fiber formation procedure such as a spinning procedure or by performing a so-called fiber processing for chemical functionalization.

However, most of the enzymes for the above processes are hydrolysis enzymes that act only to cut the fiber substrate surface moderately, and thus the application and function thereof are severely limited.

However, the fiber substrate used in the processing must have both the glutamine and lysine residues, and thereby is limited to some natural fibers such as sheep wool.

Polyamide fibers such as silk and nylon other than sheep wool do not have a sufficient amount of the glutamine and lysine residues or the like interacting with a transglutaminase.

Thus, when such a polyamide fiber substrate is directly treated with a transglutaminase, the crosslinking reaction cannot proceed.

However, the coating with the high-concentration aqueous gelatin solution is not a practical method because the solution is often converted to the gel state or solidified on a knife coater in the coating process.

However, in this document, the durability of the resultant film is evaluated only with respect to dissolution in 90° C. hot water, and whether the effect is maintained in a practical treatment such as washing is not disclosed.

However, it is true that the resultant fiber is poor in wash durability and cannot maintain the water or moisture absorptivity.