Alkaline protease from Bacillus circulans has been purified and characterized in detail for its robustness and its eco-friendly application potential at leather processing and detergent industries. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 39.5 kDa on SDS-PAGE. It exhibited optimum activity at broad temperature range and maximum at 70 degrees C under alkaline pH environment, in the presence of surfactants and oxidizing agents. It has revealed stain removal property and dehairing activity for animal hide without chemical assistance and without hydrolyzing fibrous proteins. This enzyme showed application potential in leather processing industry for production of better quality product in ecofriendly process. In addition, the stability (pH, temperature and surfactants) and hydrolysis of blood stain data also revealed its application in detergent industries. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.