Sustainable Functional Coloration of Linen Fabric Using Kigelia Africana Flower Colorant

Natural dyes are gaining momentum in the textile industry due to their non-toxic and eco-friendly nature. The enhanced demand of natural-dyed functional textile materials resulted in increased interest among the research community to explore new sources of natural dyes which could be utilized for functional coloration of textile materials. Kigelia Africana flower is known for various medicinal properties and thus can be utilized for functional coloration of textile materials. In the current study, the pre-mordanting process has been exploited to evaluate the dyeing condition of the linen fabrics by using different mordants such as; alum, ferrous sulfate, and copper sulfate. The effect of mordants on the color strength of the dyed fabrics was analyzed and correlated with wash fastness tests results. The dyed fabrics analysis has been carried out in terms of their color strength and color coordinates (L*a*b*). The functional properties like radical scavenging activity, antibacterial activity, and UV protection properties were thoroughly investigated to determine the functionality of dyed fabrics. The dyed samples displayed satisfactory fastness and color strength along with efficient antibacterial, antioxidants and UV protection properties.