OPPORTUNITIES OF NATURAL DYES FOR A GREENER TEXTILE AND COLORATION INDUSTRY:

Abstract

Dyes obtained from natural products, such as plants and insects, have been used for decorative effect and as symbols of status for thousands of years. The mollusk-derived Roman purple (dibromoindigo) also called as Tyrian purple, was remarkable for its fastness to light and washing and it was also an important mark of social distinction. The associated biblical blue holds great religious significance among observant Jews. In China, the emperor and empress wore yellow, the imperial ladies wore violet and the noblemen of the first grade wore blue. In America also there were many natural dyes, particularly dyewoods, which were not previously known in Europe. Native American peoples like Navajo and Hopi were highly skilled dyers. In Europe the blue extracted from the woad plant was used for adornment through the coloring of skin and later the dyeing of textiles. By the sixteenth century dyes played a major role in political and economic history because European nations vied for sources of new colors and the secrets of applying natural colors. Indigo tinctoria that yielded a brighter indigo blue than woad arrived in Europe from India and the East. Indigo and the red known as madder obtained from the roots of the madder plant were the most important natural dyes. Indigo was used in kimono dyeing in Japan. Madder was the basis of the fiery Turkey red. England's King George II chose indigo for the color of British naval uniforms (hence "navy blue"). Lac and Cochineal dye are also included in this time.]