Fractionation of Coloured Substances from Discoloured New Zealand Crossbred Wool

Authors

  • Jacqueline Wood
  • Robert Sherlock
  • Murray Munro

Abstract

Research with a variety of New Zealand wools showed that the compounds responsible for non-scourable canary yellow discoloration are N-formylkynurenine and kynurenine, together with dityrosine and other unidentified phenolic compounds. This confirms the results of several other research groups who have worked on discoloured Merino wool. These compounds, which can result from microbial- or photo-oxidation of the amino acids tryptophan and tyrosine, are covalently bound within the wool fibre. The compounds were removed from the wool by either chemical fractionation of the wool proteins or enzymatic digestion. Chemical fractionation of the wool proteins indicated that the proteins associated with the yellow discoloration were the high tyrosine type II proteins found in the matrix of the ortho-cortical cells.

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Published

2005-10-12

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Section

Articles