Title:Chemistry of Plant Dyes: Applications and Environmental Implications of Dyeing Processes
Volume: 4
Issue: 2
Author(s): Luqman J. Rather, Shahid-ul-Islam, Sabiyah Akhter, Qazi P. Hassan and Faqeer Mohammad*
Affiliation:
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, 110025, New Delhi,India
Keywords:
Natural dyes, pigments, medicinal value, antimicrobial, textile application, color.
Abstract: Background: The worldwide demand for natural dyes is nowadays of great interest due to
the increased awareness on therapeutic potential and wide range of industrial applications such as in engineering,
food, textile, medical and agricultural industries. These environment friendly bioresourse materials
pro-duced from non-food crops have revolutionized all industrial sectors especially pharmaceutical
and tex-tile industries.
Method: Natural dyes are derived from naturally occurring sources such as plants, insects, and minerals
without or with least chemical processing. Although, plant based natural dyes are known since time
immemorial for dyeing as well as medicinal properties, the structures and protective properties of natural
dyes have been recognized only in the recent past. The present review, describes the detailed information
about basic chemistry of the major pigments, their medicinal importance and textile applications
of naturally occurring dye yielding plants, which are helpful for further development of pharmaceutical
formulations and development of value added textile materials.
Result: Comparative environmental impact analysis is presented, highlighting the ecofriendliness of
natural dyes and adverse ecological concerns of presently used synthetic colorants.
