STUDY ON THE APPLICATION OF VITEX AGNUS-CASTUS NATURAL DYE FOR WOOL

The present paper investigates extraction of natural dye from leaves of the plant Vitex agnus-castus, which is an abundant, cheap, and readily available agriculture by -product. Leaf extracts can be readily sorbed by wool fabrics directly with mordants all of which are benign to human health and the environment. Color values and color coordinates in terms of L*, a*, b*, C, and h were examined. Dyed wool fabrics demonstrated acceptable fastness properties. The extracted dye was tested for some of the eco-parameters using AAS and GC/MS. Their concentrations were found to be lower than the stipulated limits. Dyed samples were tested for antimicrobial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.