Extraction of Natural Dyes from Fungus – An Alternate for Textile Dyeing

Abstract

A dye is a coloured substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The majority of natural dyes are from plant sources – roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood, also from animals and microbes. Natural dyes are non-toxic, non-polluting and less health hazardous. Moreover, their antioxidant and antimicrobial nature further adds to their positive effects. The main idea of extracting dyes from natural sources is to avoid the environmental pollution and also to avoid toxic and allergic reactions associated with synthetic dyes. These natural dyes have emerged as an important alternative to synthetic dyes. In the present study, The pure cultures of fungal strains, Trichodermaspand Aspergillussp were isolated from soil samples using PDA plates. The fungal cultures were grown under static condition in PDB for the production of pigment. These pigments were tested for their colour production properties by taking absorbance at different time intervals during the incubation period. A set of 3 pieces of cloth (cotton, silk & silk cotton) were used for dyeing with the fungal pigments in both pre mordanted and unmordanted conditions. The fungal filtrates were bio autographed using chromatographic techniques (TLC & CC) to purify and identify the compounds present in it. The purified samples was analyzed further by GC – MS and the compounds present in the filtrates were identified.

Keywords :Natural dyes,  Aspergillussp.  Trichodermasp. ,GC-MS