ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF NATURAL DYES AND PIGMENTS OBTAINED FROM MORINDA CITRIFOLIA L. AND TERMINALIA CATAPPA L. LEAVES

Abstract

The global consciousness reveals about the use of eco-friendly natural dyes in textiles and food industries instead of hazardous and carcinogenic synthetic dyes. Many of the plant materials, from which natural dyes are obtained, found to have some medicinal values. During the present study, dying materials were prepared from leaves of Morinda citrifolia L. and Terminalia catappa L. The antimicrobial potential of the two different dyed fabrics was studied against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and Aspergillus sp. The dye obtained from leaves of Morinda citrifolia was found to be more effective by exhibiting maximum zone of inhibition as compared to Terminalia catappa. The fabrics impregnated with two natural dyes resulted in the maximum inhibition rate (67 %) against Candida albicans as observed in the silk samples dyed with Morinda citrifolia. The dyed fabrics also showed reasonably good wash fastness; hence have practical potential for adding antibacterial properties along with vibrant colours to textiles of medical and other delicate uses.