Butterfly Pea Flower as Natural Textile Dye

The increasing awareness of the environment and the health hazards caused by synthetic dyes have led to an increasing trend to use natural dyes. Dyes obtained from natural sources have become a potential alternative to replace synthetic dyes. Color-producing plants such as Butterfly Pea flowers have been commonly used as natural dyes in the food industry. However, the increasing awareness makes the Butterfly Pea flower used and studied for its potential as a textile dye.

Can butterfly pea flower be used as dye?

Several experiments have been carried out in an effort to make natural dye extracts from Butterfly Pea flower (Clitoria ternatea) into textile dyes. The results of these experiments indicate that the Butterfly Pea flower is not only suitable for natural food coloring but also has unique characteristics to be used as textile dyes. In addition, the results of experiments using the addition of mordant into the solution can change the binding properties of the dye on silk fabric fibers. The addition of a mordant such as citrate extract from lemon can improve the color of the fabric and make it more stable. The stages are done by pre-mordanting and dyeing, then simultaneous mordanting and dyeing again, then post-mordanting and dyeing. These stages can make the color particles unite well, resulting in various color shades.

Improved Extraction of Natural Blue dye from Butterfly Pea

Extraction methods can be carried out in various ways. Basically, the extraction method is done by adding water and heating it for a certain period of time. In addition, the pH level can also affect the extraction results, if the pH level in the solution is slightly acidic it can increase the extraction efficiency. One of the experiments stated that the most optimal condition for extraction was a temperature of 80℃ for 180 minutes with a pH of 4.

So, it can be concluded that to minimize the use of synthetic dyes that are harmful to health and the environment, it can be replaced by using natural dyes. Butterfly Pea flower has great potential in its use as a natural dye. Not only as a natural food coloring, but also suitable as a natural textile dye. Optimization needs to be done to increase yields, such as optimal extraction treatment and the addition of mordant to help the process of binding the color to the fabric fiber.

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