Effect of initial treatment in the preparation of natural indigo dye from Indigofera tinctoria

The current tinting industries return to the use of natural dyes because of their characteristics including safe and environmentally friendly. Indonesia can widely promote the potential of natural colours due to the availability of abundant natural dye plants. One of the potential plants that generates blue colour is Indigofera tinctoria. This research was conducted to improve the quality and quantity of natural indigo dye for batik production that supports the environment sustainability. The indigo dark blue paste was produced by initial treatment of soaking in cold water for 48 hours. The 48 hours fermentation anaerobic conditions reached optimum temperature, due to time and pH were also met by nutrients. Aeration was done in ten minutes using an aquarium air pump to increase mixing in water immersion with solution of calcium oxide. Indoxyl in the fermented leaves of Indigofera tinctoria is easily oxidized by air in alkali solution that will form pigment indigo. In that condition, lime (CaO) can be used in the manufacture of indigo paste. In this study, the higher concentrated of blue colour was achieved by lesser amount of lime. The soaking treatment in cold water produced high amount of dyes rather than the initial treatment by both hot water and grounding the indigo leaves. Analysis were done by using UV-Vis Spectrophotometry which showed the value of absorbance. The sample that was soaked in 5 liters of water added by a kilogram of Indigofera tinctoria leaves and 15 grams of lime for 48 hours, obtained the highest absorbance or concentration level. The application of the indigo dyes with or without mordanting agent was also tested for colour fastness.