Abstract: Abundant and cheap rabbit hair was used as raw material to extract rabbit hair keratin using physical method.The extracted rabbit hair keratin was used as a natural sunscreen material and was applied to UV protective health care products.The qualitative and quantitative analysis of extracted keratin was carried out by particle size analysis,Raman spectra (RAM),X-ray diffraction (XRD),nitrogen and protein content,amino acid content analysis and SDS-Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE).The results showed that the content of extracted keratin was 89%-91%,the median diameter was 100.99 nm,the particles were small and the distribution was uniform,the molecular weight was 10-20 KDa;the secondary structure of keratin extracted by physical method was changed,there was a certain β-sheet into ɑ-helix structure.UV absorption test results showed that the natural sunscreen with rabbit hair keratin as the main raw material to absorb ultraviolet light strong and absorbance with the formula in the rabbit hair keratin content increased,as a UV protective additive used in cosmetics field have a good prospect.Rabbit hair keratin is rich in aromatic amino acids may be a good reason for its excellent UV absorption.

Key words: rabbit hair, keratin, extraction, UV absorption, sunscreen cosmetics