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Vegetable tanning is "a generic term to cover the process of making leather by the use of tannins obtained from barks, woods or other parts of plants and trees, as distinguished from "mineral tannages".

The most important organic tanning agents are the vegetable tannins present in tanning liquors. They are prepared from certain parts of plants by aqueous extraction. Their tanning power has been appreciated for a long time and Babylonian texts have recorded their use.

The use of vegetable tannins in the manufacture of leather probably predates recorded history, and there is creditable evidence that they were in use in Egypt as far back as 5000 B.C.

Vegetable tanning materials occur in nearly all forms of plant life. They are used commercially where the amount of tan is high and large quantities can be extracted economically. Other considerations are color and particular properties of the tan extracted. This is the conversion of a raw or green hide into leather.