Exploring <i>Lannea coromandelica</i> Leaves as a Renewable Sources of Natural Dye for Textile Applications

Dyes derived from plants have emerged as an important substitute to synthetic dyes. However, the total share of natural dyes in textile sectors is very minimal due to certain technical and sustainability issues involved in their production and use. Inconsistent supply of raw material is one among them that is hampering the desired pace of their production and applications. Therefore, exploration of increasingly new plant sources of natural dye is warranted. The present investigation was aimed at introducing natural dye extracted from the leaves of Lannea coromandelica for dyeing different kinds of fabrics. Natural dye was extracted from the leaves by aqueous extraction and dyeing performance on silk, wool, and cotton fabrics under post mordanting condition were evaluated in terms of CIE L* a* b* values and fastness properties of the dyed fabrics using standard methods according to international standards. Majority of dyed fabric samples exhibited colour fastness in the range of very good to excellent. The study leads to the conclusion that dye extracted from L. coromandelica leaves can be used as colorant for textile dyeing thus establishing the plant leaves as a feasible and promising source of natural dye.