Biofunctionalization of Various Textile Materials Using Enzyme Biotechnology as a Green Chemistry Alternative

Dyeing of textiles and textile materials has been going parallel to the human life since time immemorial. Natural protein fibers especially wool, silk, and cotton are widely used for dyeing purposes in the modern textile industrial sectors due to their comfort when wearing. In this chapter, fiber protein structure-function relationships are briefly discussed with enzymatic processing routes of textile materials with respect to the increasing dyeing efficiency and other novel functional applications. Fiber/fabric (wool, silk, cotton) biomodifications are described in detail with respect to various classes of enzymes such as cellulases, lipases, xylanases, oxygenases, proteases, transglutaminase, tyrosinase, and laccase. With the processing and development of new dyeing and finishing strategies, enzymatic treatments have become important environmental friendly technologies which not only fulfill the demand of the traditional textile industry but also improve quality of our life, meet the requirement of textile industrial sectors in terms of minimizing pollution levels, environmental protection levels, comfort, and health.