Bangalore-based Central Sericulture Technological Research Institute (CSTRI) has experimented with natural dyes and is looking to even commercialise product.
India maybe lagging behind China in silk production but that doesn't seem to deter the former in trying its hand out in R&D to add value to this sector. Both China and Japan are already developing newer value-added products made from silk derivatives.
It stated that they have been experimenting with Lac. Natural products including natural dyes are gaining ground globally. There is good potential to commercialise this kind of product.
CSTRI officials stated that Lac is produced by an insect Coccus Lacca and finds application in numerous industries like paints. The real challenge lay in identifying and developing more natural dyes.
The challenge stems from the fact that there are not enough safe mardents (mardents are binding agents which are used for fixing the colour on the fabric). Typically mardents like di-chromites are a strict no-no thanks to rising concerns about environment pollution. Interestingly enough besides lac, natural dyes have been produced using a whole host of materials like neem and even amla (gooseberry).
Sources said another area of potential interest to the CSTRI would be enzymes. It added that enzymes are being increasingly used both in the food industry as well as textiles. Enzyme washing of fabric and garments is another potential opportunity for them.
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