Vegetable dyes

Introduction
The art of making vegetable dyes is one of the oldest known to man and dates back to the dawn of Civilization. In India, it was widely used for colouring of fabrics and other materials. Though the very earliest dyes were discovered by accident using berries and fruits. With the experimentation and gradual development the vegetable dyes have resulted into a highly refined art.India's expertise in vegetable dyes dates back to ancient times. Using mordants to hold fast the dye or resists to selectivity prevent them from touching the cloth were printed bales of whisper soft textiles. From 15th to19th centuries, block printed resist dyed textiles from Gujarat and Deecan adorned Europeans and their homes. The discovery of synthetic dyes in the west in 19th century dealt a massive blow to Indian Textile Industry.

Some of the chemical dyes earlier found associated with hazards effecting human life creating skin diseases and lungs problems. The environmentalist, therefore, started searching the substitute of synthetic items which has led the use of more & more natural dyes. In recent days the inherent advantages of vegetable dyes has resulted in the revival and use of vegetable dyes. The study aims to identify the various manufacturers, present status and to identify the measures for upgrading this industry.


Sources of Vegetable dyes
The natural dyes are classified as monogenetic and polygenetic dyes. Monogenetic dye materials produce only one colour on textiles irrespective of mordants. Polygenetic dye matters develop different colours according to the mordant applied before dyeing.The common sources of vegetable dyes are as under:
(i) Parts of Plants such as leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, barks, roots of dye yielding plants.
(ii) Minerals such as prussion blue, red ochre and ultramarine blue,
(iii) Animal origins such as Lac, cochimeal and kermes.
The cultivation of trees in unused lands will yield dye matters and the fuel wood for the villages. Thus, the encouragement of cultivation of dye yielding plants and trees will boost agro-based activity in rural areas leading to rural development and employment.

Advantage
India is being one of the country, which possesses the natural wealth in the form of plantation in plenty. This has provided relatively better opportunity for the development of this industry in the country. The following are the major advantage for the use of vegetable dyes. The raw material for production of vegetable dyes are plentifully available.Vegetable dyes do not cause any harm to human skin and no hazards are anticipated in their manufacturing, rather some of the dyes act as health cure. The chemical reaction is almost absent in the manufacture of vegetable dyes and no pollution problem. All these dyes are harmonized with nature.


Vegetable Dyes in Rajasthan
The natural dyes are primarily used by the block printing units in Jaipur since very long time and mainly concentrated in Sanganer & Bagru block. There are about 60 units in Jaipur City distributed in Kaladera, Bara Gaon Jalota and Jai Rampur.


Brief description of Vegetable dyes
The vegetable dyes are broadly used in colouration of textile fabric, edible items, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics goods. The following dye stuffs are used in the coloration of wool, silk, cotton and synthetic fabric:
i. Lac Dye:
It is extracted from lacifer lacca insect. It is used for dyeing of wool, silk and cotton fibers. It gives reddish with tin mordant and purplish with copper mordant. Lac dye is also a derivative of lac and is similar to cochineal dye and has been in use for coloring food and fabrics since ancient times. Being protein in nature the dye is most suitable for dyeing different types of natural fiber like silk, wool, cotton, etc. Different shades like Olive Green Ruby Red, Amethyst, Yellow, Black, Purple, Steel, Gray, etc., can be obtained by using various mardants. The forest area nearby Ranchi has a big potential of insect Kerria Lacca. Lac is a natural red dye with good light, wash and rubbing fastness. The dyes are obtained as a by-product of Shellac industry.XI
ii Annatto:
It is prepared from the seed of annatto. It is used in the dyeing of silk and wool. It gives orange and peach colour. Its botanical name is bixin.
iii Harda: It is prepared from fruits of Harda and it yields yellow and gray colours with aluminum and ferrous mordants respectively. It can be used in coloration of wool and silk.
iv Himalayan Rhubard: It is manufactured from Himalayan sherb. The roots of this plant is used for the manufacture of dye stuff. It gives yellow and orange colours. It can be used directly and with Alum Mordant on wool/silk
v Indigo Blue:
It is a fermented dye of leaves of indigo ferra tinctoria. It gives blue colour.It can dye cotton, wool and silk.
vi Kamala Dye:
It is prepared from the deposits on flowers of Kamala tree. It gives yellow colour on wool and silk. It can be used directly or with mordant also.
vii Manju Phal:
It is manufactured from the nut galls of Manju Phal tree. It is used for dyeing of silk and wool, both directly or with mordant. It is gives cream and grey colours with alum and iron mordants.
viii Gum Arabic:
It is manufactured from the bark of Indian Gum Arabic tree. It is used for dyeing of cotton with mordants. It yields brown shade having very good fastness.
ix Trigonella foenum graecum:
It is prepared from the fenugreek seeds. It is used in the dyeing of cotton fabrics. It gives yellow shade with metallic mordents like copper sulphate and ferrous sulphate.
x Golden Dock:
It is prepared from rumexmaritinus seeds. It yields brown colour on cotton with alum, copper sulphate and ferrous sulphate mordants.