Herbal Dye, Bixa Seed, Water Extraction Method

Abstract:

Dye is a substance that has affinity to thesubstrate to which it is being applied. Such as, textile fibers, foodstuffs& powder. From archeological evidence, it is seen that in India & in Middle East dyeing has been carried out for over 5,000 years, which were obtainedfrom animal, vegetable or mineral origin. The greatest source of this dye wasmainly from plant kingdom; mainly roots, bark, leave & wood. Dye from Bixa(Annatto) seed is one type of natural dye which can be used as dyeing agent forcoloring textile fibers like cotton, wool, silk & for making colorfulGulal as well as in food industry. Bixin, the pigment extracted from thered-colored seeds, can be used as coloring agent for this purpose. It isnon-carcinogenic in nature & so does not affect human body or environment.An attempt is being made in laboratory scale to extract the natural pigmentfrom the Bixa seeds & its application in different fields such astextiles, Gulal & food Industry.

Introduction:

Chemical dyes & coloured powders are madefrom chemical reagents. These chemical reagents are harmful towards the humanbody & have toxic effects on skin. As a result of which, there is a demandfor dyes & coloured powders (gulal) being produced from natural sources.Being natural in origin these herbal dyes & gulals do not pose healthhazards^1,2,3,4,5 & are safe for human use. This project work focused mainly on the production of dye & gulal from Bixa seeds (Annatto sp).Experiments were also done on the extraction of flaral dye from marigold,hibiscus etc. In the laboratory scale , dye was extracted from flowers (marigold, hibiscus etc ) & seeds ( bixa ) by water extraction method.Fabrics ( like cotton, silk) were dyed & coloured powder ( gulal ) was produced with these dyes. The TDS & Metal Concentration in these samples were measured.Finally, bacteriological tests were conducted on these samples , the bacteriabeing isolated & identified.

Experimental procedure:

Materials:

Bixa Seeds:

Bixa is a small tree found throughout the hotterparts of India. Bixa is cultivated for its seeds in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & West Bengal as orange-red colour is foundfrom its which can be used as dyeing materials for colour fibres and making colourfulpowder. It occurs in two forms: White flowers & green capsules other withpink flowers & red capsules. The seeds which are dry, hard, bright red& have a characteristics smell are considered good for dyeing. Theunmordanted cotton gives dull shades but using proper mordant, the colour &brightness of the colouring cloth is increased. The colourful dye extractedfrom bixa is non-carcinogenic. From Literature, it is seen that due to itsnon-toxic nature, dye is extensively used in dairy-industry for colouringbutter, ghee, cheese, margarine, ice cream, chocolate, meats, cereals,confectionary, spices etc. In Latin America, the seeds are fried in fat &the colour part is used to tent rice, gravies & stew. It is used as aningredient in hair oils, shoe-polishes, soap, cosmetics and pharmaceuticalsointments. It can also be used in adsortion-indicator in agrentometrictitrations.

Common Name

Family

Habitat

Parts used for dyeing

Colour Index

: Annatto, Arnato, Chinese Dye Tree, Lipstick tree, Saffron Tree.

: Bixaceae

: Tropical America, Brazil, East West Indies

& widely cultivated in Asia & Africa.

: Seeds, Dried pulp of fruits.

: C.I. Natural Orange 4 (C.I. 75120)

The chief ingredient of annatto is Bixin.

CH₃ CH₃

HOOC-[CH=CH-C=CH]₂-CH=CH-[CH=C-CH]₂-COOCH₃

Bixin comprising 70 80 % of the total pigments present in the seed. In addition, a water soluble yellow dye, orelilin, methyl bixin, ß-carotene, cryptoxanthin, lutein and zexanthin are also reported. Bixin gives water-soluble products on saponification, and it is called as norbixin. Bixin is the main pigment of oil-soluble annatto and norbixin is the principal colouring matter of water-soluble products. This is not belong to mordant dye classes, but it belongs to direct/acid dye class. So it can be used without use of mordant. But the colour depth & brightness is increased in presence of mordant.

Methods:

Water extraction method⁵: Dye from Bixa seeds are extracted by the aqueous extraction procedure. In this method the seeds are heated with water & the pigmented liquid is collected. The extraction process is carried out at different temperatures & for different extraction times to get the optimization point of the process. Colouring materials from the Annatto seeds are extracted for dyeing the textile. After the complete extraction of dye, the seeds are taken out from the liquor and are extracted for the orange coloured dye, a second time.

Dyeing cotton: Textile refers to the yarns, threads, wools that can be spun, woven tufted tied to manufacture cloths. Cotton is one of the most commonly abundant natural fibre of textile. Cold water causes cotton to swell without chemically altering it. Chemically it is cellulose in nature .Pure cellulose is a white substance with specific gravity of 1.5. Many of the natural dye has carboxyl group & aromatic side chain. These are hydrolyzed by water molecules to anions. As the surface of cotton is anionic in nature, when it is treated with water; repulsion occurs between the cotton fibres & water molecules. As a result the dye can not properly bind with the textile fibres. Therefore, the cotton fibre has to be treated with mordant before dyeing. The mordant cationizes the fabric & the anions of dye can now bind properly.

Mordant: Few natural dyes are colour fast fibres. Mordants are substances which are used to fix a dye to the fibres.They also improve the take up quality of the fabric & help improve colour & light fastness. The term is derived from the Latin word mordere (to bite). Most natural dyers use chemical mordants such as alum, copper sulphate, iron or chrome. Mordants are prepaired in solution, often with the addition of an assistant which improves the fixing of the mordant to the yarn or fibre. The most commonly used mordant is alum, which is usually used with cream or tartar as an additive or assistant. Alum was used in the project work to dye cotton fibres with Bixa, marigold & hibiscus dyes.

Gulal Preparation: The liquid dye was mixed with talcum powder to produce a semisolid mixture. It was then dried to obtain the powdered gulal. At different concentrations of the dye, the colour shade of the gulal varied. The type of colour is different for the type of natural dye usedThe gulal obtained from Bixa is dark red to orange in colour. If scented talcum powder is used, then the gulals have a pleasant fragrance.

Metals: The metals tested for in the sample solutions are Cadmium, Lead, Copper & Zinc. Of this Cadmium, Lead & Copper are the heavy metals & the most harmful. However, these are found in negligible amounts in the samples. Zinc is the metal found in highest percentage. The sources for these are probably fertilizers used in the fields where these plants are grown.

Experimental Results & Discussions:-

Figure 1: Bixa (Annatto)

Figure 2: Dyeing cotton cloth with Bixa

Table 1: Optimization of Dyeing temperature

*Sr No.*	*Temperature* *(in ⁰C)*	*Time* *minute*	*Dye present in aqueous. solution* *(in mg/l)*
1	50	30	3953.3
2	80	30	6950
3	91	30	7010
4	100	30	6968.70

Table 2: Optimization of dyeing Time:

*Sr No.*	Time *minute*	*Temperature* *(in ⁰C)*	*Dye present in aqueous. Solution* *(in mg/l)*
1	15	80	4545
2	30	80	6950
3	45	80	5907
4	60	80	7882
5	120	80	6412.5

Table 3: Chromaticity co-ordinates of dyeing cotton fabric with Bixa

Figure 4: Metals present in dye sample

Figure 5: Metals present in dye sample

Figure 6: Metals present in dye sample

From the experimental results it shows that 1 hr extraction time & 80 90⁰C temperature is enough for extraction of dye from Bixa seeds. At higher temperature the extraction will be higher, but the problem is that as Bixa seeds is a natural products, charring will occur & the production will be lost.

The Bacteriological & microbiological tests also been performed to know the effect of dye on our skin, & it is seen that there are no harmful effect of dye on our skin.

Conclusion:

The present work shows that Bixa ( ANNATO SP.) can be used as a dye for colouring textiles. These are grown in the Indian subcontinent & so are easily available. Different shades of colour can be obtained using different mordant. Also, the colour fastness, wash fastness properties can be improved by different treatment procedures.

The process is economically viable as the raw materials are abundantly available & inexpensive. The process can thus be carried out both in large scale industrial set-up & also through cottage industries. Production of these natural dyes as a cottage industry is a novel idea for the empowerment of village women. Herbal Gulals produced by them will find wide acceptance too as Holi, the festival of colours, is a popular cultural & religious practice in India. This approach, thus, is quite promising for future entrepreneurs.

References:-

1) Parkes C. H; Creating colour in Yarn: An introduction to natural Dyes, Knitters Review, 2002 2003.

2) http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep03/03dyes.html; Natural dyes, December 22, 2003.

3) www.pioneerthinking.com; Making Natural Dyes from Plants, June 25, 2003.

4) Vankar P S; Chemistry of Natural Dyes. Resonance, October 2000, pp 73 80.

5) The Wealth of India, Raw Materials, CSIR, 17,8, 1990

6) www.geocities.com/kusumika_project

About the Authors:

Ms. Papita Saha is associated with NIT, Durgapur, India and Dr. Siddhartha Datta is associated with Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India