Enzymatic Approach to Analyze the Effects of Mercaptans on Hair

The study analyzed the effects of different mercaptans on hair by examining the protease degradation of reduced and permed hair samples. It was found that reduced hair exhibited significantly higher protease degradation compared to permed hair, and the degradability of permed hair increased with repeated treatments. The degradability of reduced hair was closely linked to its cystine content, whereas the cystine content had little effect on permed hair. The study concluded that the degradability of both reduced and permed hair was influenced by the reduction power of the mercaptans used, with the order of increasing degradability being CYS-treated hair < CA-treated hair < TG-treated hair.