Introduction
Jute, popularly known as the "Golden fibre of India," has gained immense popularity around the globe because of its bio-degradable and eco-friendly character. Apart from being eco-friendly, jute possesses the characteristics of a silky luster with high tensile strength and low extensibility. It has traditionally been used as packaging material for the transport and storage of agricultural and industrial products. A small percentage of jute products are used in diversified value-added articles, and the possibility of using jute for value-added diversified products has been explored in the recent past. The Government of India is giving special emphasis to the re-orientation of R&D activities on jute with special thrust on value-added diversified products. The thrust of the jute diversification programme includes the use of jute fibre in areas like Handloom and Handicrafts, Industrial Applications, Jute Composites, Decorative, Food Grade Jute Products, and Geo-Jute. In the case of jute diversified products, more focus should be given to its aesthetic appeal or exclusive designs rather than its functional performance. Dyeing and printing of jute with vegetable colour is one such approach that needs to be explored systematically and also scientifically for producing diversified value-added jute products. The present article reports dyeing and printing of jute yarn and/or fabric with vegetable colorants in the absence and presence of different inorganic salts for producing eco-friendly jute diversified products and to assess different colorfastness properties of those dyed and printed fabrics.
Tea (Camellia sinensis) is a beverage produced from leaves of the tea plant. The chief biochemical coloring compounds present in tea liquor are the aflavin and the arubigins. Marigold (Tagetes erecta) is a stout branching herb extensively cultivated in all over India and commonly used at religious ceremonies. The flowers mainly contain the flavonol-quercetagetol, a derivative of quercetol. Madder dyes are hydroxyl-anthraquinones, which are extracted from the root bark of various Rubiaceae e.g. from madder root (Rubia tinctorum). The root contains approximately 1.9% of dye, and many shades of red can be created with the color extracted from madder root. Indian Mahogany (Cedrela toona) is a high tree belonging to the Meliaceae family. The bark of this tree is smooth and dark brown in color. The bark extracts are used as an astringent for wounds. The flowers contain a flavonic yellow pigment quercetol. Khair (Acacia catechu) is a small deciduous tree belonging to leguminous woods and can be used as vegetable colorants. Different shades of brown and yellow color can be produced with the bark of Khair.
The author is associated with Visva-Bharati University, Department of Silpa-Sadana, Textile Section, Srniketan, West Bengal
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