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Chapter

Fundamentals of Natural Dyes

and Its Application on Textile
Substrates
Virendra Kumar Gupta

Abstract

The meticulous environmental standards in textiles and garments imposed by

countries cautious about nature and health protection are reviving interest in the
application of natural dyes in dyeing of textile materials. The toxic and allergic
reactions of synthetic dyes are compelling the people to think about natural dyes.
Natural dyes are renewable source of colouring materials. Besides textiles it has
application in colouration of foods, medicine and in handicraft items. Though
natural dyes are ecofriendly, protective to skin and pleasing colour to eyes, they are
having very poor bonding with textile fibre materials, which necessitate mordant-
ing with metallic mordants, some of which are not eco friendly, for fixation of
natural dyes on textile fibres. So the supremacy of natural dyes is somewhat sub-
dued. This necessitates newer research on application of natural dyes on different
natural fibres for completely eco friendly textiles. The fundamentals of natural dyes
chemistry and some of the important research work are therefore discussed in this
review article.

Keywords: colour fastness, dyeing, extraction of natural dyes, natural dyes

1. Introduction

After the advent of mauveine by Henry Perkin in 1856 and subsequent commer-
cialization of synthetic dyes had replaced natural dyes, and since then consumption
and application of natural dyes for textiles got reduced substantially. In present
scenario environmental consciousness of people about natural products, renewable
nature of materials, less environmental damage and sustainability of the natural
products has further revived the use of natural dyes in dyeing of textile materials.
Natural dyes are having some inherent advantages:

• No health hazard

• Easy extraction and purification

• No effluent generation

• Very high sustainability

• Mild dyeing conditions

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Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

• Renewable sources

There are some technical issues and disadvantages related to the application of
natural dyes which reduced its applications that are:

• Mostly applicable to natural fibres (cotton, linen, wool and silk)

• Poor colour fastness properties

• Poor reproducibility of shades

• No standard colour recipes and methods available.

• Use of metallic mordants, some of which are not eco friendly.

Hill [1] had given his views that research work with natural dyes is inadequate,
and there is need of significant research work to explore the potentials of natural
dyes before its important application to textile substrate.
In India initially Alps Industries Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh, India) and later Ama
Herbals, Lucknow, and Bio Dye Goa done extensive work for industrial research
and production of natural dyes and natural dyed textiles. Textile-based handicraft
industries in many countries engaged local people to dye textile yarn with natural
dyes and weave them to produce specialty fabrics. Printing of textile fabrics with
natural dyes in India are specially done in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Turkish carpets are recognised for their beauty made with natural dyes. The
major importers of natural dyes are the USA and the EU. In the EU the major
importers of natural dyes are France, Germany, Italy and the UK. Natural dyes have
many advantages [2] like non toxicity, eco friendliness, pleasing shade to eye and
having special aroma or freshness of shade [3]; however, natural dyes have some
disadvantages to showing poor colour reproducibility, poor or inconsistent com-
position, average washing fastness [4] and lesser availability in different regions,
which are of great concern against its revival. Moreover natural dyes are not having
any standard established dyeing [5] method. The final shade depends on the type of
mordant used in dyeing. Natural dyes are used in the dyeing of cotton [6, 7], linen
[8], wool [9, 10], silk [11, 12], nylon and polyester [13, 14] fabrics. The natural dyes
can be classified in different ways such as based on origin/source type, type of hue,
chemical structure [15, 16] and colour components. The classification of natural
dyes based on origin/source is given below:

• Vegetable origin

• Animal origin

• Mineral origin

For vegetable origin of natural dyes, the best source of natural dyes are the dif-
ferent parts of plants and trees. Most natural dyes are extracted from different parts
of plants and trees. Natural dyes and pigments are taken from the following parts of
plants/trees:

• Seed

• Root

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Fundamentals of Natural Dyes and Its Application on Textile Substrates
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89964

• Stem

• Barks

• Leaves

• Flowers

Natural dyes are having wide application in the colouration of most of the
natural fibres, e.g. cotton, linen, wool and silk fibre, and to some extant for nylon
and polyester synthetic fibre. However, the major issues for natural dyed textiles are
reproducibility of shade, non availability of well-defined standard procedure for
application and poor lasting performance of shade under water and light exposure.
To achieve good colour fastness to washing and light are also a challenge to the dyer.
Several researchers had proposed different dyeing methods and process parameters,
but still these information are inadequate, so this calls for the need of research to
develop some standard dye extraction technique and standardisation of whole pro-
cess of natural dyeing on textiles. Here there are examples of few important natural
dyes [17] which are widely used in the dyeing of textile materials, described below.

1.1 Jack fruits (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam)

It is a very popular fruit of south India and other parts of India. The wood of the
tree is cut into small chips and crushed into dust powder and then subsequently boiled
in water to extract the dye. After mordanting treatment of dyed fabrics, yellow to
brown shades are obtained. The cotton and jute fabrics are dyed by this dye. It belongs
to the family of Moraceae. The dye consists of morin as colouring molecule (Figure 1).

1.2 Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

The dye is obtained from the root of the plant. The turmeric root is dried,
crushed in powder form and boiled with water to extract the dye. It can be used in
the dyeing of cotton, wool, and silk. Proper mordanting treatment improves colour
fastness to wash. The brilliant yellow shade is obtained after dyeing with turmeric
natural dye. Turmeric is a rich source of phenolic compounds known as curcumi-
noids. The colouring ingredients in turmeric are called curcumin. Curcumin is
diarylheptanoid existing in keto-enol form. Turmeric is a member of Curcuma
botanical group (Figure 2).

Figure 1.
Molecular structure of morin (3,5,7,2′,4′pentahydroxy-flavone).

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Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

Figure 2.
Molecular structure of curcumin (diarylheptanoid).

Figure 3.
Molecular structure of pelargonidin (5,5,7,4 tetrahydroxy antocyanidol).

1.3 Onion (Allium cepa)

The papery skin of onion is the main source of the dye. Onion skin is boiled to
extract the colour and subsequently can be dyed with or without mordanting the
fabric. The resulting colour is from orange to brown. It contains colouring pigments
called pelargonidin (5,5,7,4 tetrahydroxy antocyanidol). The amount of colouring
pigment present varies from 2.0 to 2.25% (Figure 3).

1.4 Hina (Lawsonia inermis L)

It is the leaf of the plant that is traditionally used in making the coloured design
on the hands of women. The leaf of the plant is dried, crushed and subsequently
boiled with water to extract the dye from leaf. The mordanted fabric gives colour
from brown to mustard yellow. This is the dispersed dye type colour; hence, polyes-
ter and nylon can be dyed by hina. However, it stains wool and silk giving a lighter
brown colour. Hina is commonly known as lawsone. The chief constituent of hina
leaves is hennotannic acid; it is a red orange pigment. Chemically hennotannic acid
is 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone. The colouring molecules have strong substantiv-
ity for protein fibre (Figure 4).

1.5 Indigo (Indigofera tinctoria)

It is the seed of the plant. The full matured plant has 0.4% colour on weight of
the plant. The plants are steeped in the water until the fermentation start. When the
hydrolysis of glucoside is completed, the liquor is separated from the plant debris.
The extract is aerated which converts indoxyl to indigotin which separates out as a
precipitate. The shade of natural indigo is difficult to reproduce exactly. The variety
of blue shade on cotton can be obtained by the application of natural Indigo. It is
kind of vat dye and hence need reductive vatting with liquid jiggery and citric acid
or dithionate.

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Figure 4.
Molecular structure of lawsone (2-hydroxyl-1,4-naphthoquinone).

Figure 5.
Molecular structure of natural indigo.

The precursor to indigo is indican which is a colourless water-soluble compound.

Indican hydrolyzes in water and releases β-D-glucose and indoxyl. The oxidation of
indoxyl resulted in indigotin. The average yield of indican from an indigo plant is
0.2–0.8%. Indigo is also present in molluscs. The molluscs contain mixture of indigo
and 6,6′-dibromo indigo (red), which together produce a colour known as Tyrian
purple. During dyeing due to air exposure, dibromo indigo is converted into indigo
blue, and the mixture produces royal blue colour (Figure 5).

1.6 Madder or manjistha or Rubia (Rubia tinctorum)

The dye is obtained from the root of the plant. The root is scrubbed, dried in
sunlight and finally boiled in the water to extract the dye in solution. The dye has red
colour. The cotton, silk and wool fibre can be dyed with madder at a temperature of
100°C for time period of 60 min, and subsequently dye solution is cooled. Bright red
shade is produced on wool and silk and red violet colour on cotton. This is a mordant-
able type of acid dye having phenolic (-OH) groups. The colouring matter in madder is
alizarin of the antharaquinone group. The root of the plant contains several polypheno-
lic compounds, which are 1,3-dihydroxyanthraquinone, 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone,
1,2,4-trihydroxyanthraquinone and 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone (Figures 6 and 7).

1.7 Tea waste (Camellia sinensis)

India is one of the biggest consumer of tea. The left over waste of tea is col-
lectable in large quantity. The extract of tea waste can be used as a natural dye in
combination with different mordants, which can produce yellowish brown to brown

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Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

Figure 6.
Molecular structure of alizarin and purpurin.

Figure 7.
Molecular structure of 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone and 1,8-dihydroxyanthaquinone.

shade. This is a mordantable dye. Flavonoids, flavonols and phenolic acids are the
main colouring components in waste of the tea. Polyphenols, which are mostly
flavonols, are known as catechins with epicatechin and its derivatives.

1.8 Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius)

The safflower petals are soaked in distilled water and subsequently boiled with
water for more than 2 h, and it is repeated two times. The solution is filtered and
the filtrate is vacuum dried. The obtained powder is having strength of 20–30%.
In dyeing it produces cherry red to yellowish red shade. Safflower contains natural
pigment called carthamine. The biosynthesis of carthamine takes place by chalcone
(2,4,6,4-tetrahydroxy chalcone) with two glucose molecules and that resulted in the
formation of safflor A and safflor B (Figure 8).

1.9 Sappan wood (Caesalpinia sappan)

Aqueous extraction is used to extract the dye from sappan wood. Alkali extrac-
tion can also be used. It produces bright red colour. It produces an orange colour in
combination with turmeric and maroon shade with catechu. The sappan wood tree
is found in India, Malaysia and the Philippines. The colouring pigment is similar to
logwood. The same dye is also present in Brazil wood.

1.10 Logwood (Haematoxylon compechianum)

The dye is extracted from the stem of the tree. The stems are broken into small
pieces and steepened in cold water for several hours followed by boiling.
The extracted dye solution is strained. The logwood natural dye is used to produce
black shade on the wool. The logwood trees are found in Mexico, Central America
and the Caribbean islands. It is also known as compeachy wood. The colouring mat-
ter in logwood natural dye is haematoxylin, which after oxidation forms haematein
during isolation (Figures 9 and 10).

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Fundamentals of Natural Dyes and Its Application on Textile Substrates
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89964

Figure 8.
Molecular structure of carthamine (safflower).

Figure 9.
Molecular structure of haematoxylin and brazilin.

Figure 10.
Molecular structure of haematein.

1.11 Saffron (Crocus sativus)

The dye is extracted from the stigma of flower, which is boiled in water, and
the colour is extracted. It imparts a bright yellow colour to the textile material. The
wool, silk and cotton can be dyed with saffron. Alum mordant produces orange
yellow shade which is also called saffron yellow. This is also used as food colouring.
Saffron is a perennial plant which belongs to the Iridaceae family. The aqueous

7
Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

extract of saffron petals contains 12% colourant. The colouring matter of saffron
contains phenolic compounds, flavonoids and anthocyanins. Anthocyanidins
(pelargonidin) is responsible for the colour in saffron petals. The oxidation of
anthocyanidins produces flavonol (Figure 11).

1.12 Pomegranate rind (Punica granatum)

Rind of pomegranate fruit waste is used as a natural dye. Pomegranate fruit is

rich in natural tannins. The anar peel produces a yellow colour dye. This natural dye
is used in dyeing of wool, silk and cotton fibre. The colouring molecule in pome-
granate rind is flavogallol which is called granatonine. It exists in alkaloid form
(N-methyl granatonine). The pomegranate rind is rich in tannin content; therefore,
it is also used as tanning material (Figure 12).

1.13 Lac insect (Laccifer Lacca Kerr)

It is a resinous protective secretion from the insect lac which work as a pest on
a number of plants. Lac dye can be obtained by extracting stick lac (shellac) with
water and sodium carbonate solution and precipitating with lime. Lac contains a
water-soluble red dye. It produces scarlet to crimson red shade after dyeing. The
lac dye is obtained from an insect named as coccus lacca. Resin which produced by
insect is called stick lac. The lac dye contains laccaic acid A and B which are respon-
sible for the colour of the dye. The amount of colouring matter (laccaic acid) is 0.5
to 0.75% on the weight of the resin (Figures 13 and 14).

1.14 Cochineal (Dactylopius coccus)

Cochineal is obtained from an insect. It produces beautiful crimson, scarlet and

pink colour on cotton, wool and silk. After mordanting with alum, chromium, iron
and copper; the colour from purple to grey are produced. Cochineal is a scale insect

Figure 11.
Molecular structure of pelargonidin (anthocyanidin) purple and kaempferol ( flavonol) yellow.

Figure 12.
Chemical structure of granatonine.

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Fundamentals of Natural Dyes and Its Application on Textile Substrates
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89964

Figure 13.
Chemical structure of laccaic acid A.

Figure 14.
Chemical structure of laccaic acid B.

Figure 15.
Chemical structure of carminic acid.

from which natural colourant carmine is derived. Carminic acid is extracted from
female cochineal insects. The body of insect is 19–22% carminic acid (Figure 15).

1.15 Mineral sources

Some kinds of mineral ores, red clay and ball clay can yield light colours along
with mineral salts. But colour composition is not constant and depends on source.

2. Classification of natural dyes

2.1 By chemical constitution

2.1.1 Indigoid class

Two important dyes in this class are indigo blue and Tyrian purple. It occurs
as glucoside indicant in the plant. Another blue dye is woad having the same

9
Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

Figure 16.
Indigoid structure.

chemical class. The chemical structure which belongs to indigoid class is shown
in Figure 16.

2.1.2 Anthraquinone class

Dyes that belong to this class are having anthraquinone structure and obtained
from plant and insect. The red shade is specific to this class. Madder, lac, kermes
and cochineal are some of the examples. The general chemical structure of this class
is shown in Figure 17.

2.1.3 Alpha naphthoquinone

The dyes are having alpha naphthoquinone structure such as 2-hydroxy

1-4-naphthoquinone. Hina, lawsone and juglone are examples of this class. The
chemical structure of this class is shown in Figure 18.

2.1.4 Flavones

The dyes are having yellow shade. The natural dye weld belongs to this category.
Most of the dyes are derivatives of hydroxyl and methoxy substituted flavones or
isoflavones. The chemical structure of this class of dye is shown in Figure 19.

Figure 17.
Anthraquinoid structure.

Figure 18.
Naphthoquinone structure.

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Fundamentals of Natural Dyes and Its Application on Textile Substrates
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Figure 19.
Flavones structure.

Figure 20.
Carotenoid structure.

2.1.5 Carotenoids

The natural dyes saffron and annatto belong to this class. The dye structure of
this class has long-chain conjugated double bonds. The chemical structure of this
class is as shown in Figure 20.

2.1.6 Dihydropyrans

The dyes which belong to this category are logwood and sappan wood. Logwood,
a natural dye, produces dark black shade on silk, wool and cotton.

2.1.7 Anthocyanidins

The natural dye carajurin belongs to this category. The blue and orange shades
are obtained from this class.

2.2 Chemistry of natural dyes

Different natural colourants contain different chromophoric and auxochromic

groups. Depending on the presence of a particular group in the dye structure, the
chemistry of the dyes can be explained in terms of their chromophoric groups. The
different dye structures and chromophoric groups are as explained.

2.2.1 Quinoid-based structure

The quinoid-based dye structure can be overviewed as three chemical struc-

tures (a) benzoquinone, (b) naphthoquinone and (c) anthraquinone. The natural
colourant carthamine belongs to benzoquinone group, and juglone and lawsone are
having naphthoquinone structure. Alizarine dye possesses anthraquinone structure.

2.2.1.1 Benzoquinone dyes

In this dye structure the л electron system is small, and the dye contains another
unsaturated group in conjugation to л electron system (Figure 21). The red colourant

11
Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

Figure 21.
Structure of carthamine.

carthamine is present in safflower (Natural Red 26). Safflower (Carthamus tincto-

rius) is a subtropical plant and cultivated in India, China, North and South America
and Europe. In dyeing, the water-soluble yellow dye (safflor yellow) is extracted [18]
by cold water, and then red safflorcamin is extracted by diluted sodium carbonate
solution. After the neutralisation of extracted solution, it can be used in dyeing of
wool, silk and cotton.

2.2.1.2 Naphthoquinone dyes

Lawsone and juglon natural dye belongs to this category. Lawsone is extracted
from hina plant; the leaves also contain flavonoid colourants lutcolin. It is culti-
vated in countries like India, Africa and Australia. Naphthoquinone is present in
glycosidic [19, 20] form named as Hennosid A, B and C. The quantitative analysis
of lawsone can be performed by high-performance liquid chromatography on
reverse-phase C18 column. Chloroform extracted hina leaves were analysed by high-
performance thin layer chromatography (Figures 22 and 23).

Figure 22.
Lawsone (2-hydroxy, 1,4 naphthalene).

Figure 23.
Juglone (5-hydroxy, 1,4 naphthoquinone).

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Fundamentals of Natural Dyes and Its Application on Textile Substrates
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2.2.1.2.1 Lawsone

Lawsone form 1:2 complex with Fe(II) and Mn (II) and useful in dyeing of
wool and silk fibre. The better dye uptake is obtained at pH 3.0. Agarwal et al.
[21] studied the effect of different mordants and different mordanting methods to
get the different shades. Hina can be used for dyeing of cotton, polyester, polyam-
ide and cellulose triacetate as the structure of dye molecules are similar to disperse
dyes [22–24].

2.2.1.2.2 Juglone

Juglone is representative of natural dye with naphthoquinone structure. The

dyestuff is extracted from different part of nut trees. Juglone is present as a glyco-
side form in trees and plants. Wool dyed with juglone are having good resistance
with moths and insects. Mordanting treatment further enhances the fastness
properties. Dyeing of textile materials with aqueous walnut extract yields brown
shade. Wide range of textile fibre, e.g. wool, silk, nylon and polyester, can be dyed
with juglone.

2.2.1.3 Antharaquinone

It possess biggest group of anthraquinone dyes. Rhubarb (CI Natural Yellow 23)
is extracted from the root of the plant. The extracted dye contains emodin, chryso-
phenol, aloe emodin and pyscion (Figure 24). Rhubarb extract is used in dyeing of
wool fibre [25]. It produces yellow to orange shade after mordanting with alum. The
mordanting treatment improves light fastness of dyed materials.
Natural dye alizarin, pseudo purpurin and purpurin (Figure 25) belongs to plant
of Rubiaceae family and has an anthraquinone structure [26]. The dye is obtained
from the root of plant.
Madder (C.I Natural Red 8) natural dye produces red colourant; the cultivation
of madder is done as a source material for red colour in Europe, Asia and Northern
and Southern America. The dyestuff is extracted from the dried roots of the plant.
The roots of the plant contain 2–3.0% of di- and tri-hydroxyl anthraquinone
glucosides.

Figure 24.
Different representative structurers of anthraquinone group-based dye molecules.

13
Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

Figure 25.
Structures of alizarin, pseudo purpurin and purpurin.

Figure 26.
Structure of β-carotene.

2.2.2 Carotenoids

Carotenoids are red, yellow and orange pigments present in plants and animals
[17]. It has a polyisoprenoid structure with a series of centrally located conjugated
bonds. The bright colours of many fruits and vegetables are due to carotenoids.
Carotenoids are polyisoprenoid structure (Figure 26) which contain conjugated
double bonds, which acts as chromophore and responsible for characteristic absorp-
tion spectra. Carotenoids are divided into two parts:

a. Hydrocarbon carotenoid

b. Oxygen containing called xanthophylls

Structural changes by hydrogenation, double bond migration, isomerization

and chain lengthening and shortening resulted in many carotenoid structure.
Carotenoids possess strong UV light resistance, and β carotene (Figure 26) is a typi-
cal structure generally found in natural colourants.

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Fundamentals of Natural Dyes and Its Application on Textile Substrates
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2.2.2.1 Pyron dyes

Pyron dyes contain flavonoids and anthocyanins having structure as shown in

Figures 27 and 28. The pyron structure is bound to various sugars by glycosidic
bonds [17]. Flavonoids are classified as flavonols, flavones, anthocyanidins, isofla-
vones, flavon-3,4-diols and coumarins. Yellow flavones and flavonols are used as
vegetable dyes. The valuable and very popular flavonoid is yellow quercetin which
possess several bio effect.

2.2.2.2 Anthocyanins

Anthocyanins are found in fruits and vegetables; some are grape wine, sweet and
sour cherries, red cabbage, hibiscus and different varieties of oranges. There are more
than 500 varieties of anthocyanins that produces red, pink, violet and orange colours.
There are some important anthocyanins which are cyaniding, delphinidin, pelar-
gonidin, malvidin, peonidin and petunidin. Many plants besides anthocyanins also
contain quercetin and chlorophylls, and the resulted colour is a mixture of all these.

2.2.3 Dyes from lichens and mushrooms

Violet and purple colours were generally obtained from molluscs and shellfish,
and they were source of dyestuff from ancient to the beginning of the Middle Ages.
Royale purple and Tyrian purple were the name of the colour obtained originally
from molluscs [27]. Lichens and mushrooms are source of natural dyes, and they
produce violet and purple colours. Lichens are found in coastal areas and were
easier to collect. The dyeing methods with lichens are easy; however, disadvantage
associated with lichens is poor light fastness. Therefore, the dyeing of lichens
are limited to cheap quality fabrics. Fungi are also used for dyeing of textiles. In

Figure 27.
Structure of anthocyanins.

Figure 28.
Structure of quercetin.

15
Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

America and India, red colour is obtained from fungus Echinodontium tinctorium. In
Italy and France, fungi obtained from Polyporales were used to dye the wool.
The colourants in lichens and fungi are benzoquinone derivatives, especially
terphenylquinone. Some of these species possess compounds such as Sarcodon,
Phellodon, Hydnellum and Thelephora [28, 29]. Orchil and litmus are the colourants
that are responsible for the colour in lichens. The lichens’ colour are produced
through pre-compounds of orchil and litmus by consecutive enzymatic, hydro-
lysation, decarboxylation and oxidation [30] reactions, respectively. Then some
pre-compounds are lecanoric acid, atranorin and gyrophoric acid which take part in
the formation of orchil and litmus as shown in Figure 29.
In the past, the extraction of colourants from lichens were performed by keeping
the lichens in water with ammonia for several days. The reaction occurred through
enzymatic hydrolysis in which non coloured compounds such as lecanoric acid are
converted into orcinol by hydrolysis and decarboxylation. Orcinol after oxidation
forms purple orceins or litmus. The colour of both litmus and orchil depend on the
pH of the solution [30]. In acidic pH dyestuff forms red cation, and in basic pH, it
forms bluish violet anion. The lichens which belong to species Parmelia, Xanthoria
parietina, Ochrolechia tartarea and Lasallia pustulata are capable to produce yel-
lowish, brownish and reddish brown colours in dyeing of wool with lichens [31].
The dyeing is done by boiling the wool with lichen solution either premordanted or
without mordanted wool in presence of ammonia.
The mushrooms which belongs to species Sarcodon, Phellodon and Hydlnellum
contain terphenylquinone compounds as a main colourants which produce blue

Figure 29.
Structures of different colourants occurring in fungi and lichens.

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Fundamentals of Natural Dyes and Its Application on Textile Substrates
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colour in mushrooms. They are benzoquinone derivatives. The Cortinarius species

mushrooms are richly coloured in brown, red, olive green and violet. They are
anthraquinone derivatives.

2.2.4 Tannins

Tannins are polymeric polyphenols with typical aromatic ring structure with
hydroxyl constituents and have relatively high molecular weight. In plants two
different groups of tannins are found, (a) hydrolysable tannins and (b) proantho-
cyanidins (condensed tannin) [32, 33]. Tannins are present in plant cell and are
concentrated in epidermal tissues. Tannins are found in wood, leaves, buds, stems,
florals and roots [34]. The hydrolysable tannins are concentrated in the roots of
several plants. The plants are the source of different variety of tannins. The three
major tannins (hydrolysable tannins) are grouped as gallotannins [35] or ellagitan-
nins and which are gallic acid or ellagic acids. The most widespread gallotannins
are pentagalloyl glucose. Ellagitannins are esters of hexahydroxydiphenic acids.
Gallic acid and hexahydroxydiphenic acid occur together in some hydrolysable
tannins [36].
Condensed tannins are polymers of 15-carbon polyhydroxyflavan-3-ol
monomer units such as (−) epicatechin or (+) catechin. The complex chemical
nature of tannins makes the biosynthesis and polymerisation a difficult task;
however, there are some established pathways for bio synthesis. The precursor
for biosynthesis of hydrolysable tannins is shikimic acid. The direct aromatiza-
tion of 3-dehydroshikimic acid produces gallic acid, which upon esterification
forms polyol.
The bio synthesis of condensed tannins occurs through two different ways (a)
by phenylpropanoid and (b) by polyketide. The polyketide pathway takes malonyl
moieties for aromatic ring formation in flavonoid biosynthesis. The phenylpro-
panoid pathway takes aromatic amino acid, L-phenylalanine, which is non-oxida-
tively deaminated to E-cinnamate by phenylalanine ammonia-lyase.

2.3 By hue or colour produced

The classification of natural dyes are also done according to the hue of the
colour. Some important natural dyes giving primary and secondary colours are:

a. Red: Colour index has 32 red natural dyes. The prominent members are mad-
dar, manjistha, Brazil wood, Morinda, cochineal and lac dyes.

b. Blue: There are four natural blue dyes. Some prominent colours are indigo,
Kumbh and flowers of Japanese Tsuykusa. Natural indigo blue is known from
very ancient time to dye cotton and wool.

c. Yellow: There are 28 yellow natural dyes available which are used in dyeing of
wool, silk and cotton. Prominent examples are barberry, tesu flowers, Kamala,
turmeric and marigold.

d.Green: Plants that yield green natural colour are very rare; they are made by
mixing yellow and blue primary colours. Woad and Indigo produce green
colour.

e. Black and brown: There are six black natural dyes. Cutch is used to produce
brown shade; for getting black shade lac, carbon and caramel are used.

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Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

f. Orange: Natural dyes which produce red and yellow colour are used to produce
orange shade. Barbeny and annatto are the examples of orange colour.

2.4 Application based classification

a. Vat dyes: Indigo is a water-insoluble dye, and before application it is solubi-

lised in water. The solubilisation of natural indigo is done with the help of
sodium hydrosulphite and sodium hydroxide. After solubilisation, it is applied
on cellulosic fibre, and after dyeing the development of colour is done by
oxidation with hydrogen peroxide. Indigo dye is the representative of indigoid
class of vat dyes

b. Direct dyes: The natural dyes which are water soluble and have a long and
planar molecular structure and presence of conjugated (single and double
bonds) bonds can be applied by direct dyeing method. The dye molecules may
contain amino, hydroxyl and sulphonic groups. Turmeric, Harda, pomegranate
rind and annatto can be applied by direct dyeing method. Common salt is used
to get better exhaustion of dyes. The dyeing temperature is kept at 100°C

c. Acid dyes: The dye molecules possess sulphonic or carboxylic groups in their
structure, which produce affinity for wool and silk fibre. The dyeing is done at
acidic pH of 4.5–5.5. After dyeing the fastness improvement is done with tannic
acid. The dyeing of wool and silk with saffron is done by acid dyeing method.
The presence of common salt in dye bath produces levelling effect

d. Basic dyes: The dye molecules produce coloured cation after dissolution in the
water at acidic pH. The dye molecules contain –NH2 groups and react with
–COOH groups of wool and silk. The dye bath pH is kept 4–5 by adding acetic
acid

3. Extraction of natural dyes

The amount of natural dyes present in natural products are very less [11, 37].
They need specific technique to remove dye from their original source. Here there
are some methods which are suitable for extraction of natural dyes from their
source materials [28]; the different extraction methods are as follows:

3.1 Aqueous extraction

In this method, the dye containing materials are broken into small pieces or
powdered and then soaked in water overnight. It is boiled and filtered to remove
non-dye materials. Sometimes trickling filters are also used to remove fine impuri-
ties. The disadvantages of this technique are that during boiling, some of the dye
decompose. Therefore, those dyes which do not decompose at boiling temperature
are suitable by this method. The molecules should be water soluble.

3.2 Acid and alkali extraction

Most of the natural dyes are glycosides; they can be extracted under acidic or
alkaline conditions. Acidic hydrolysis method is used in extraction of tesu natural
dye from tesu flower. Alkaline solution are suitable for those dyes which contain
phenolic groups in their structure. Dyes from annatto seeds can be extracted by this

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method. The extraction of lac dye from lac insect and red dye from safflower is also
done by this method.

3.3 Ultrasonic microwave extraction

Microwave and ultrasonic waves are helpful in extraction of natural dyes. This
technique is having several advantages over aqueous extraction. In this technique
less quantity of solvent (water) is required in extraction. The treatment is done
at lower temperature and less time as compared to aqueous extraction. Ultrasonic
and microwaves are sent in aqueous solution of natural dye, which accelerate the
extraction process.

3.4 By fermentation

In the presence of bio enzymes the fermentation of natural colour bearing

substances becomes faster, and the extraction of natural dyes takes place. Indigo
extraction is the best example of fermentation method of extraction. Enzymes break
glucoside indican into glucose and indoxyl by the indimulsin enzyme. Amatto natu-
ral dye extraction is also done by enzyme method. Cellulose, amylose and pectinase
are having application in the natural dye extraction from the bark, stem and roots.

3.5 Solvent extraction

There is use of organic solvents such as acetone, petroleum, ether, chloroform

and ethanol in the extraction of natural dyes. It is a very viable technique as com-
pared to aqueous extraction. The yield of dye is good, and the quantity of water
requirement is less. The extraction is done at lower temperature.

4. Characterisation of natural dyes

For successful commercial use of natural dyes, there is need of standardized

dyeing technique for which characterisation of natural dyes is essential.

4.1 UV-visible spectroscopy

It is useful in characterising the colour in terms of the wavelength of maximum

absorption and dominating hue. The application of UV-characterization is to
identify the ability of dye molecules to absorb UV wavelength and fading character-
istics of dyes. Some researchers [38] had done UV analysis of natural dyes. Mathur
et al. [9] studied UV spectra of neem bark, and it has two absorption maxima at 275
and 374 nm. Beat sugar [39] shows their absorption bands at 220, 270 and 530 nm.
Gulrajani et al. [40] studied the absorption bands of ratanjot and observed that
at acidic pH, the absorption occurs at 520–525 nm, and in alkaline pH, it occur at
610–615 nm. Red sandal [41] wood shows strong absorption peak at 288 nm and
maximum absorption at 504 and 474 nm in methanol solution at pH 10. Gomphrena
globosa flower has peak at 533 nm. The dye does not have difference in peak value at
pH 4 and 7 in visible region; however it shifted towards 554 nm [42]. Bhuyan et al.
studied the dye absorption extracted from Mimusops elengi and Terminalia arjun and
concluded that dye absorbed by the fibre varies from 21.94 to 27.46% and from 5.18
to 10.78%, respectively, depending on bath concentration [43–45]. He also reported
absorption of colour extracted from the roots of Morinda angustifolia Roxb using
benzene extract. The colour shows absorption at 446, 299, 291, 265.5 and 232 nm.

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Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

Name of the dye Wavelength of maximum absorption

Neem bark extraction 275 and 374 nm

Beet sugar 220, 280 and 530 nm

Ratanjot at acidic pH 520 and 525 nm

Alkaline pH 570, 610 and 615 nm

Red sandal wood 288 nm

The value of the wavelength of the maximum absorption for a particular dye
depends on the chemical constitution of the dye molecules which is variable and
depends on the growth environment of a particular natural dye. The characterisa-
tion of a particular dye is helpful in deciding the hue of the dye.

4.2 Chromatographic technique

Thin layer chromatography is used to identify different colour components in

natural dyes. Koren [46] analysed insect dye, madder and indigoid. Guinot [47]
analysed plants containing flavonoids colour compounds. Balakina [48] analysed
quantitatively and qualitatively red dyes such as alizarin, purpurin and carminic
acid by high-performance liquid chromatography. Mc Goven [49] et al. identified
the dyes stripped from wool fibre by HPLC with C18 column. Szostek [50] et al.
studied the retention of carminic acid, indigotin, corcetin, gambogic acid, alizarin,
flavonoid, anthraquinone and purpurin. He studied examination of faded dyes
through emission and absorption spectra by non destructive method. Cristea [51]
et al. had reported quantitative analysis of weld by HPLC and informed that after
15 min. Extraction in methanol/water mixture, 0.448% luteolin, 0.357% luteolin
7-glucoside and 0.233% luteolin 3′7 diglucoside were obtained. Son et al. [52]
reported analysis of longer dyeing time in indigo dyeing and their effect on struc-
tural change in dye molecules through HPLC analysis. The derivative spectroscopy
and HPLC were used to analyse annatto dyestuff; the sample preparation involved
extraction with acetone in the presence of HCl and removal of water by evaporation
with ethanol. The residue was dissolved in chloroform and acetic acid mixture for
derivatives spectroscopy or with acetone for HPLC.

5. Theory of dyeing

Natural dyes are very suitable for dyeing of protein fibres as compared to cel-
lulosic fibres. Synthetic fibres which contain polar groups such as nylon, acrylic
and viscose are also accessible to natural dyes. Natural dyes are thermo unstable
and have poor chemical stability, which make the natural dyes unfit for dyeing
at high temperature and pressure. The presence of hydrogen bond and Van der
Waals force of attraction play important role in the fixation of natural dyes on the
fibre. Natural dyes are having poor exhaustion value due to subdued affinity for
fibre materials, so to increase the exhaustion of dyes, common salt/Glauber’s salt
are added in the dye bath. The isotherm of the natural dyes sorption obeys Nernst
isotherm [17, 53, 54].
Natural dyes are having poor affinity and substantivity [55, 56] for cellulosic
fibres such as cotton and viscose. The absence of reactive groups in fibres and dyes
does not allow for bond formation, so they need mordanting treatment to fix the dye
on fibre surface. Protein fibres are having bond-forming groups in fibre structure,
and the presence of carboxylic groups in natural dyes provides opportunity for

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Figure 30.
Sorption isotherm of dyeing of silk fabric (without mordant) with eucalyptus leaves extract at three different
temperature 30, 60 and 90°C [17].

bonding and gets bonded with fibre and shows good fastness properties. Natural dyes
are having smaller molecular size, and they are not having conjugated linear structure
[57]. Therefore, natural dyes are having inferior exhaustion behaviour. Sometimes
salt sodium chloride is also used to improve the dye exhaustion % (Figure 30).

6. Application of natural dyes

Different researchers had proposed different methods of dyeing of natural

and synthetic fibres with natural dyes. The dyeing of textile substrates depends
on dyeing parameters which are fibre structure, temperature, time and pH of
the dye bath and dye molecule characteristics. The fastness properties of dyes
on textile substrates depend on bonding of dyes with fibre. Since natural dyes
are lacking in the presence of active groups to make bonds with textile fibres,
the fastness properties are not very good. The cellulosic fibres are difficult to dye
with natural dyes as they have poor affinity and substantivity. The lack of bond-
ing of natural dyes with cellulosic fibre requires mordanting treatment. Protein
fibres have ionic groups and get bonded with natural dyes possessing ionic groups
in dye structure.
The dyeing of proteins fibre can be done by exhaust method of dyeing. The dye-
ing process parameters in wool and silk dying is pH at 4.5–5.5 and dyeing tempera-
ture 80–90°C. The exhaustion % of dyes in dyeing is very poor. The longer liquor
ratio may be preferred because of poor solubilities of natural dyes in water. Stainless
steel-made dyeing machines are suitable in dyeing of wool and silk.
Since natural dyes are having poor affinity for cellulosic fibre and due to poor
exhaustion, mordanting treatment [29, 58] is done to fix the dyes on cellulosic
fibre. The dyeing of cellulosic fibre can be done at temperature of 80–90°C.The
exhaustion of dyes can be increased by adding exhausting agents, sodium chloride
or Glauber’s salt in dye bath. Most of the dyeing is done at neutral pH. Dyeing of
cotton with natural indigo is done at alkaline pH in the presence of sodium hydro-
sulphite in a container made of stainless steel. The copper container gives deeper

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Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

shade in dyeing of cellulosic fibre. The mordanting treatment improves the washing
fastness of dyed samples. There are three methods of mordanting [44, 45].

6.1 Conventional method of dyeing

In the state of Maharashtra, Gujrat and Rajasthan [59], the people follow
conventional method of dyeing of cotton fabric with natural dyes which may be
explained with the following process sequences. The fabric is pretreated before
dyeing to get the absorbency. The grey fabrics are given dunging treatment followed
by washing. The bleaching treatment is given to make the fabric white, after that
it is steamed and stepped into alkaline solution, and finally rinsing and washing
treatment is given. After thorough pretreatment the fabric is soaked into solution
of harda/myrobolan and dried. The dried fabric is premordanted with alum and
subsequently dipped into natural dye solution at boiling temperature. After dyeing
the fabric is given washing and rinsing treatment and dried in the sun light. Water is
sprayed on the fabric to brighten the shade. The process is repeated 2 to 4 days. The
dyeing method differs from place to place. Here are some examples:

6.1.1 In Bengal

The commonly used natural dyes are haldi, babul, madder, pomegranate rind
and marigold [59]. In the dyeing of fabric with sappan wood, the fabric is dipped
in aqueous extract of sappan wood with or without alum solution and boiled for
2–3 hours. In the dyeing of Indian madder, the madder is extracted either from the
stem or root and boiled with water to extract the natural colourants. The pretreated
fabric is boiled with dye extract solution. Mordanting treatment may be given either
before dyeing or after dyeing with alum solution.

6.1.2 In Orissa

The sappan wood chips are boiled with alum and turmeric and after boiling it
was cooled. In cooled solution of dye, the fabric materials are kept for 3–4 h. It is
a premordanting process. At some places the cold solution of natural dye is taken
with sufficient quantity of water, and the fabric is dipped in cold solution for 24 h
and finally boiled for 2 h.

6.1.3 In Uttar Pradesh

The application of natural indigo on cotton fabric is done by two methods which
are called Khari Mat and Mitha Mat.

6.1.4 Khari Mat

In Khari Mat’s process to dissolve natural indigo, 40 gallon of water is taken in

an earthen vessel, and in that water there are addition of 2.0 lbs. indigo, 2.0 lbs. of
lime, 2 lbs. of sajji mati and 1.0 ounce of gur (molasses). After 24 h of fermentation,
the indigo dye became water soluble. The indigo dye solution is ready for dyeing.
This technique is successful in hot weather.

6.1.5 Mitha Mat

In this technique, the solubilisation of natural indigo is done by taking 60 gal-

lon of water; in that water there are addition of 4 lb. of lime, and after 1 day again

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4 lb. of lime is added. After 4–5 days natural indigo dye became fully soluble.
During application this mitha vat is added with old mitha vat with continuous
string. The fabric is dyed in the dissolved indigo dye solution at temperature
of 50–60°C.

6.2 Dyeing of cotton fabric with natural dyes

There is a standard recipe-based dyeing process for dyeing of cotton fibre/yarn/

fabric. The important pretreatments before dyeing are desizing (acid desizing or
enzyme desizing), scouring (sodium hydroxide and auxiliaries) and bleaching with
hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The fully pretreated fabric free from all impurities and
absorbent is premordanted (single or double mordanting, in single either harda or
aluminium sulphate in double taking both consecutively) with aluminium sulphate.
After mordanting the mordanted fabric is passed through aqueous solution of
natural dyes. The dyeing parameters will be:

• Dyeing time = 60–120 min. (depends on depth % of shade)

• Temperature of dyeing = 70–100°C

• M:L ratio of the bath = 1:20–1:30

• Amount of dye in bath = 10–50% (on weight of the material)

• Concentration of common salt = 5–20 g/l

• pH of the dye bath = 10–11

After dyeing, soaping treatment is given to remove any residual/unreacted dyes

and auxiliary chemicals from the surface of the fabric. An after treatment with
natural dye, fixing agent may be desirable.

6.3 Dyeing of protein fibres

Wool and silk are protein fibre; both fibres have complex chemical structure and
susceptible to alkali treatment. Alkaline pH of aqueous solution damage the fibre.
At isoelectric pH of 5.0, the wool is neutral and the silk is slightly positive. The wool
and silk can be dyed with natural dyes through premordanting or after mordanting.
Mordanting is done with tannin-rich natural source chemical like harda or metal
salt aluminium sulphate or ferrous sulphate.
In premordanting, the fabric is treated with either harda or metal salt aluminium
sulphate (single or double) with 5–20% (on weight of the material) mordant con-
centration at temperature of 80–90°C for 30–40 min. The M:L ratio is kept 1:5–1:20.
After mordanting, drying treatment may be given and subsequently dipped in dye
bath containing aqueous natural dye solution. The following dyeing parameters
were maintained:

• The pH of the dye bath = 4–5

• Temperature of dyeing = 80–90°C.

• Time of dyeing = 50–60 min.

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Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

• M:L ratio of the bath = 1:20–1:30

• Amount of dye in bath = 10–50% (on weight of the material)

After dyeing, soaping treatment is given to remove any residual/unreacted dyes

and auxiliary chemicals from the surface of the fabric. An after treatment with
natural dye fixing agent may be desirable.

6.4 Dyeing of synthetic fibres

Different synthetic fibres like nylon, polyester and acrylic can be dyed with
natural dyes like onion skin extract, babool bark extract and hina. The dyeing
can be done either by padding (cold pad batch) method or exhaust method with
or without mordanting. Dyeing is carried out at acidic pH. High-temperature
high-pressure dyeing gives better results in terms of colour strength than other
dyeing methods.

6.5 Fixation of natural dyes

Natural dyes are having poor affinity and substantivity for textile materials. The
bonding groups are not present in natural dyes, due to that most of the natural dyes
are having poor washing fastness. The fixation of natural dyes on textile materials
can be done with the help of mordanting agents. Mordanting agents are dyeing
auxiliaries and are salts (chlorides and sulphates) of heavy metals. The heavy metals
Al, Cr, Cu and Sn are having vacant d orbitals and easily make coordinate bonds
with natural dyes and fibre-active sites. The formed complex has bathochromic and
hyperchromic shift. There are different types of mordanting agents such as metallic
mordants, tannins and tannic acid and oil mordants. The different heavy metal salts
work as complexing agent and chelate with natural dye colourants. Some metallic
salts are toxic in nature, but even after that, they are having application in fixation
of natural dyes. The different mordanting agents are:

a. Most controversial are lead salts and chromates (potassium, sodium, ammo-
nium dichromate).

b. The salt SnCl2 also works as mordant. It is water soluble, having reducing agent
properties. It is toxic in nature.

c. Copper sulphate (CuSO45H2O) and ferrous sulphate (FeSO47 H2O) molecules

are also used as a mordant. They are good chelating agents.

d.Tannins are poly phenolic compounds and able to form complexes with metals
and bind with organic substances such as proteins, alkaloids and carbohy-
drates. The tannins are also called bio mordants. Tannins can be used either
alone or in association with metal salts. The phenolic groups of tannins can
form effective bonds with fibre and natural dye molecules.

6.5.1 Metallic mordants

Metal salts of aluminium, chromium, iron and copper are used as a mordants.
The important mordants are potassium dichromate, ferrous sulphate, copper
sulphate, stannous chloride and stannic chloride.

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6.5.2 Tannins and tannic acid

Tannins are obtained from the excretions of bark and other parts, e.g. leaves
and fruits of the plant. Extractions are either used directly or in concentrated form.
Large number of tannin containing substances are employed as a mordant in textile
fibre dyeing.

6.5.3 Oil mordants

Oil mordants are used in dyeing of madder. Oil mordants make a complex with
alum used in mordanting treatment. Metal atom combined with carboxylic groups
of oil and bound metal then makes bond with the dye molecules, and in this way,
superior wash fastness can be achieved.

6.6 Mordanting process

a. Premordanting: In premordanting process, mordanting is done before dyeing;

subsequently the fabric is dyed with natural dye in aqueous media. It is a two-
bath process in which the first bath is used for mordanting of fabric and in the
second bath, dyeing is done with natural dyes. Dyeing and mordanting are done
at the same temperature of 60–70°C. the mordants are complexing agents, and
if they are taken in the same bath, they may react to each other, and precipita-
tion of dyes may occur. That deteriorate fastness properties of dyed fabrics

b. Metamordanting: In metamordanting treatment, the mordant chemicals are

added with natural dye in the same dye bath; dyeing and mordanting take place
simultaneously. The mordanting and dyeing temperature are 80–90°C

c. After mordanting: In after mordanting treatment [53, 54], the dyeing of fabric
is done first; after that in the same bath mordanting compounds are added.
The temperature of chroming is 80–90°C. after chroming, the temperature is
dropped to 60°C, and goods are run for 15 minutes after that liquor is drained

The application of natural dyes on cellulosic materials are done by the pad-dry-
washing and pad-dry-steaming-washing method. High-temperature curing is not
suggested as dye molecules are susceptible to decompose. Fibre and yarn dyeing can
also be done with natural dyes similar to synthetic dye application.

7. Fastness properties of natural dyes

The quality parameters in dyeing is fastness properties. Several test methods

are described to access the colour fastness. The fastness properties give idea about
the quality of dyeing. In natural dyes, the fastness properties are strongly related
to substrate type and mordant used for dyestuff fixation. Besides the dyestuff
itself, there are many factors such as water, chemicals, temperature, humidity,
light, pretreatments, after treatments, dyestuff distribution in fibre and fixation of
dyestuff affect the fastness properties. In natural dyeing the colour and fastness of
natural dyes need special attention for careful selection of materials and process.
Natural dyes were in use up to end of the nineteenth century. At that time the
dyeing with natural dyes were at peak with excellent fastness properties; however,
after commercialization of synthetic dyes in the nineteenth century, the proficiency

25
Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

in natural dyeing started to decrease. The different fastness properties of dyes show
the resistance of dyes towards different external environment in which fabric con-
taining dyes are exposed. The fastness properties of dyes depend on the structure
of dyes, exposure on the environment and fastness improvers and type of mordant
used. There is need to explore some natural after treatment agents to improve the
light and washing fastness.

7.1 Light fastness

The light fastness of natural dyes is poor to medium. The poor light fastness
is due to chromophoric change in dye structure after absorption of light. The
chromophoric groups are not very strong to dissipate the energy absorbed through
resonance. Cook [60] had reported a comprehensive review on light fastness
improvement of dyed textile fibres. He studied the use of tannin related after
treatments on mordantable dyes to be used in cotton dyeing for improving light
and wash fastness, and his findings were useful in improving fastness properties of
natural dyed fabrics. Natural dyes have poor light stability as compared to synthetic
dyes. Padfield and Landi [61] observed the light fastness of wool dyed with nine
natural dyes such as:

a. Yellow dyes (old fustic and Persian berries), light fastness rating 1–2

b. Reds (cochineal with tin mordent, alizarin with alum mordant, lac with tin
mordant), rating 3–4

c. Blue (indigo depends on mordants), rating 4–5 and 5–6

d.Black (logwood), rating 4–5

Mordants highly influence the light fastness of natural dyes. Turmeric, fustic
and marigold dyes faded more than any other yellow dyes; however, the application
of tin and alum mordants causes more fading than chrome, iron and copper. This
shows the dependency of fastness properties of natural dyes on the type of mor-
dants. Samanta et al. [62] reported the light fastness improvement in natural dyes
applied on jute fabric by 1% benzotriazole. The biggest challenge in natural dyeing
for colour fastness is related with light fastness. The choice of suitable mordent will
improve the light stability except some iron salts which lead to shift in the resulting
colour. Textile auxiliaries also improve fastness properties. To improve the light
stability of natural dyes, Lee [63] commended an UV absorber on protein fibre. Oda
[18] suggest singlet oxygen quenchers to improve the light fastness rating. Mussak
[64] discussed light-induced photo degradation process of natural dyes. Several
attempts were made to improve the light fastness of different textile fabrics dyed
with natural dyes out of which some are [65–67]:

a. Effect of various additives on photo fading of carthamin in cellulose acetate film.

b. Critical examination of fading process of natural dyes to reproduce original

colour of the fabric after fading.

c. The rate of photo fading effect is effectively suppressed in the presence of

nickel hydroxyl-arylsulphonate. The addition of UV absorbers in bath has
small effect in reducing photo fading effect.

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7.2 Washing fastness

The washing fastness of natural dyes is poor to medium. The bonding of dye with
fibre is very poor, and due to that dyes are not very fast with detergent solutions. Duff
et al. [29] studied the effect of alkalinity of washing solution in washing of natural dyes
dyed fabrics. The alkaline pH of the detergent solution changes the colour value in terms
of the hue and value. Logwood and indigo are having good fastness value as compared
to others. The mordanting treatment improves the washing fastness of dyes. Samanta
et al. [68] reported some improvement in washing fastness by use of fixing agent.

7.3 Rubbing fastness

The rubbing fastness of most of the natural dyes are moderate to good. Samanta
et al. [8, 58] reported that jackfruit wood, manjistha, red sandal wood, babool and
marigold having good rubbing fastness on jute and cotton fabric.

8. Advantages of natural dyes

8.1 UV-protective fabrics

UV-protected fabrics are required to protect the skin and body of the human
being from sunburns, tannings, premature skin burns and skin ageing. Researchers
had done the work on to produce fabrics which had sun-protecting effect by the
application of natural dyes in dyeing. Sarkar [69] evaluated ultraviolet protection
factor (UPF) value of cotton fabric dyed with madder, indigo and cochineal with
reference to fabric parameters. Grifani [70, 71] studied the effect of natural dyes
on cotton, flax, hemp and ramie and got good results. Metallic mordants [72]
have potential to improve the UPF value of wool, silk and cotton. Orange peel
extract natural dye applied on wool increased the UPF value of dyed wool fabric
considerably.

8.2 Insect proof

Cellulosic materials and woollen are susceptible to moth and fungus attack in
humid and warm conditions. Koto et al. [73] studied the effect of natural dyes on
wool. The anthraquinone-based natural dyes cochineal, indigo and madder are able
to produce insect proof and repellent fabric when used as a dyes in dyeing of wool.

9. Summary and conclusions

• Natural dyes due to its unique character of natural origin are known as eco-
friendly dyestuff; however the bonding of dye molecules with fibre-active
sites are very poor, and they need some bridging chemicals to anchor the
dye molecules with fibre, and mordanting agents are helpful in bridging the
dye molecules with fibre. The synthetic mordanting agents are not very eco
friendly, and some are toxic which depress the efficacy of natural dyes and
sometime become matter of debate.

• Natural dye does not have any shade card to match the samples or reproducing
the shade. So there is need of collection of spectral data of natural dyes so that
any shade can be reproduced.

27
Chemistry and Technology of Natural and Synthetic Dyes and Pigments

• There is need of awareness about natural dyes dyed fabric in people so that it
can be popular in big way. and due to that demand and consumption of natural
dyed fabric will increase.

• Natural dyes are costly as compared to synthetic dyes. So some research work
should be done to reduce the cost of production.

• Big production houses, technical institutions and research houses should

organised workshops and symposia to spread the advantages of natural dyes.

• The government should promote the production of natural dyes by giving

financial incentives to small manufactures of natural dyes.

• There must be some very strong research and development work to improve
the quality of natural dyes in terms of low cost, use of natural mordent and
widespread applications.

Acknowledgements

I am very thankful to Prof. A.K. Samanta for inspiring me and giving very excel-
lent suggestions for preparing this review paper. I am very thankful to the editor for
his remarkable patience and monitoring.

Author details

Virendra Kumar Gupta
M.L.V. Textile and Engineering College, Bhilwara, Rajasthan, India

*Address all correspondence to: virendra1970@rediffmail.com

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
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Fundamentals of Natural Dyes and Its Application on Textile Substrates
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89964

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