Using Eggplant Skin as a Source of Fruit Waste Colorant for Dyeing Wool Fibers

Today, natural colorants are emerging globally due to their safety and environmental friendly characteristics. Natural dyes have been employed in dyeing Persian carpet piles for many years. Food and fruit industry wastes are one of the main sources of colorants which can be employed for textile coloration. Eggplant (Solanum melongena), a member of the family Solanaceae, is used in food recipes. Anthocyanin pigments are responsible for the dark purple color of its skin. In this research, dyeing wool fibers was carried out using powdered skin of eggplant. For this purpose, the Iranian wool was first treated with some metal salts including Fe(II), Sn(II), Cu(II), Cr(VI) and Al(III). These salts are commonly used as mordant to improve the wash and light fastness of natural dyed textiles. The wool fiber was then dyed with 50% owf powdered skin of eggplant. The colorimetric properties of the dyed yarns were evaluated using a reflectance spectrophotometer. The wash and light fastness of the samples were also measured according to ISO 105-CO5 and Daylight ISO 105-BO1. Results showed that skin of eggplant is a potential source for dyeing wool fibers.