Production of Microbial Dyes having Functional Properties for Textile Application

摘要

Ancient ages embarked the use of coloured textiles; natural dyes were the only source of colours available then, with the advent of 19th century advancement in chemicals and auxiliaries led to the development of synthetic dyes. These dyes substituted natural dyes/pigments vowing to cost economics, ease in manufacturing, application and importantly good durability. As an alternative to synthetic dyes, natural dyes which are extracted from natural sources like fruits and vegetables have limitations in terms of reproducibility and cost which makes them difficult to sustain in the market. In this paper, a new area of natural dyes has been explored having remarkable properties in comparison to synthetic dyes. In addition to this, the extracted microbial colourants has shown some important functional properties like antibacterial, antifungal, anti-parasitic, anti-mycobacterial activities which makes them more useful in Technical Textiles and allied sectors.