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

T oday, 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.‎