Green technology for crosslinking protein molecules for various uses

A method of crosslinking keratin-containing fibers of hair to maintain a desired three dimensional structure of the keratin-containing fibers of hair, said method comprising:

• providing a crosslinking agent comprising an oxidized sugar having at least two aldehyde groups, wherein the sugar is selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, trisaccharides, and tetrasaccharides;
• and
• infiltrating a plurality of keratin-containing fibers of hair with the crosslinking agent under conditions effective to cause protein molecules contained in the keratin-containing fibers to become crosslinked, thereby yielding a population of crosslinked keratin-containing fibers,
• wherein the protein molecules of the keratin-containing fibers comprise amine groups that react with the at least two aldehyde groups of the oxidized sugar to achieve the crosslinking of the protein molecules to yield the crosslinked keratin-containing fibers of hair.