THE USE OF AVOCADO (Persea Americana) AS AN ALTERNATIVE

NATURAL DYE

An Investigative Project

Presented to:

Mr. Denzel G. Diamante

Pasig Catholic College

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements in Science 9

Submitted by:

IX – Diocese of Catarman

Nalumin, Royce Ryder B.

Taruc, Reigniel M.

Sayat, John Christian N.

September, 2019
Related Literature

Archaeological evidence shows that, particularly in India and the

Middle East, dyeing has been carried out for over 5000 years. Dyeing is a

method which imparts beauty to the textile by applying various colours and

their shades on to a fabric. Dyeing can be done at any stage of the

manufacturing of textile fiber, yarn, fabric or a finished textile product

including garments and apparels. The property of colour fastness depends

upon two factors namely selection of proper dye according to the textile

material to be dyed and selection of the method for dyeing the fiber, yarn or

fabric.

Dyes A dye can generally be described as a coloured substance that

has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is

usually used as an aqueous solution and may require a mordant to improve

the fastness of the dye on the fiber. Dyes are used for colouring the fabrics.

Dyes are molecules which absorb and reflect light at specific wavelengths to

give human eyes the sense of colour.

Classification of Dyes There are two major types of dyes - natural and

synthetic dyes. The natural dyes are extracted from natural substances such

as plants, animals, or minerals. Synthetic dyes are made in a laboratory.

Chemicals are synthesized for making synthetic dyes.

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Some of the synthetic dyes contain metals too.

Natural dyes The natural dyes are obtained from animal, vegetable or

mineral origin with no or very little processing. The greatest source of dyes

has been the plant kingdom, notably roots, berries, barks, leaves and wood,

but only a few have ever been used on a commercial scale.

Synthetic dyes The first man-made organic dye, mauveine, was

discovered by William Henry Perkin in 1856. Many thousands of dyes have

since been prepared and because of vastly improved properties imparted

upon the dyed materials quickly replaced the traditional natural dyes

(Buchanan and Rita 1995).

A dye, whether it is from a natural or synthetic origin, is used, not only

to just colour the surface of fibers, but it must also become a part of the

fiber. After dyeing, the fabric should not be affected during the washing

process, dry cleaning with organic solvents etc and also the dye should give

fastness to light, heat and bleaching.

The global consumption of textiles is estimated at around 30 million

tonnes, which is expected to grow at the rate of 3% per annum. Moreover,

such a huge amount of required textile materials cannot be dyed with

natural 13 dyes alone.

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Hence, the use of eco-safe synthetic dyes is also essential (Samanta and

Agarwal 2009)

Sasha Duerr has been dyeing her textiles with compost for over 20

years. The author of two books on natural dyeing and an instructor at the

California College of the Arts, Duerr fell in love with natural colors while

searching for alternatives to the art school oils and acrylics that made her

sick. Living in the Bay Area, she was involved in the sustainable food

movement and worked in urban gardens, activities that all raised the

question: why can’t we apply those same principles of sensitivity and

sustainability to the textiles we wear and live in?

Natural dyeing uses color extracted from plants — from food scraps or

weeds or foraged bark — to dye fabrics, with or without the use of a

mordant (a tannic substance that helps the color bind to the fabric). It’s how

we dyed textiles for millennia, before the Industrial Revolution pushed cost-

saving chemical dyes. What we gained in efficiency and uniformity, however,

we lost in connection and originality.“If you think about the Pantone Colors

— colors like Orchid or Fig — those are immediate, synthetic versions of

living colors,” says Duerr. “The real color that comes from that plant opens

up this whole other level of connectivity.”

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Living colors have “a glow” that you simply can’t find in man-made color.

“They show us the hidden color palette of everyday life.”

Plant dyes are also infinitely better for you and for the earth. Textile

factories are second only to agriculture in terms of the pollution they create,

much of which occurs when producers dump dye by-products into water

sources. And many of the plants used in natural dyeing are medicinal, far

kinder to our skin than synthetics. “When you wash that towel and black

water goes down the drain, those are heavy chemicals you’re seeing,” says

Duerr. “Why not embed a blanket with aloe dye, which is soothing to your

skin, or turmeric, which eases inflammation?” Up until the 1950s, firemen in

Japan wore uniforms dyed with indigo, an anti-bacterial plant that can help

treat burns. (Get Into Natural Dyeing (Plus, How To Dye Pillowcases from

Avocado Pits) by Meghan Nesmith)

For it’s nutritional value, a typical serving of avocado (100 g), is

moderate to rich in several B vitamins and vitamin K, with good content

of vitamin C, vitamin E and potassium (right table, USDA nutrient data).

Avocados also contain phytosterols and carotenoids, such

as lutein and zeaxanthin.

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Related Studies

We can thank giant prehistoric sloths for the dispersal of avocados.

The Lestodons, as the sloths are known, could grow to be 15 feet long, and

they spent their days roaming around South America during the Cenozoic

era, swallowing avocados whole and spreading fruit trees in their wake.

Though humans began cultivating the fruit as early as 5,000 years ago, one

of the earliest published descriptions of the avocado is from 1519: The

“edible fruit,” wrote the geographer and conquistador Martin Fernandez de

Enciso in a document called Suma de geographia, is “like butter” and “of

marvelous flavor, so good and pleasing to the palate that it is a marvelous

thing.”

This deceptively simple process is an art form in the hands of Ms.

Pombo. The 30-year-old clothing designer from Venezuela is part of a group

of millennial makers who work with plant-based dyes, which tend to be more

sustainable and make use of vegetable scraps that might otherwise be

abandoned. From her studio, on an industrial stretch of Ingraham Street in

Brooklyn’s East--Williamsburg neighborhood, Ms. Pombo creates exquisite

made-to-order clothing dyed with all kinds of organic refuse, including

walnut shells, annatto seeds and onion skins. But avocado pits are her main

medium.

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 Her company, Fragmentario, is equal parts fashion experiment and

educational initiative. In addition to selling clothing, Ms. Pombo

offers workshops on how to extract beguiling colors from botanical materials.

The results are uneven by nature. Variations in water minerality and pH, not

to mention the inevitable addition of pollutants, affect the shades of plant-

based dyes. Hard water, which is full of minerals like calcium and

magnesium, can make colors more vibrant, while softer water produces

more muted tones. Plant-based fibers like cotton or linen will typically

mellow the dye, while animal-derived fibers like wool or silk yield richer

hues.

But Ms. Pombo approaches her pigments with a methodical sensibility

that reflects her earlier training in engineering. There are beakers, burners

and tongs, and jars filled with water sourced from all over the world in her

studio, along with meticulous spreadsheets that trace dye experiments and

tests. “I’m doing this hand process but it’s very controlled,” she said.

Natural fibers—such as cotton, linen, silk, and wool—take dye much better

than synthetics do. Dyeing is as much an art as a science, so don’t hesitate

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to experiment. For example, we like combining liquid dyes to come up with

our own colors. Modify this technique for items other than fabric, immersing

them in the dye and taking note of how each item takes the color. (from:

www.marthastewart.com)

Biblical Period, the preparation of cloth for clothing required several

operations. After the cleaning of the wool or flax, it was dyed the necessary

color, usually light blue or purple, with animal or vegetable dyes mixed with

minerals and salts by chemical processes unknown today. Special dyeing

plants and implements were used in Ereẓ Israel. Dye tools were found at Tel

Beth-Mirsim, Gezer, and other places. They were made of stone, like hollow

barrels: on the upper surface a groove was carved, which was connected to

the inside by means of a hole. With the introduction of the material to be

dyed into the dye-filled barrel, the liquid would rise, overflow through the

hole, and be collected in the groove. Upon the removal of the wet garment,

the overflow would return through the reverse process thus permitting the

material to be dyed again and preserving the precious dyes. Some

operations required heating or boiling, and portable earthenware vessels,

which could be placed over a fire, were used for these purposes.

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 Mishnaic and Talmudic Periods, the craft had developed considerably

by the mishnaic and talmudic periods, both in the preparation of dyes and in

the dyeing of materials and clothes. The sources describe the dyer's

workshop (mk 13b) and his equipment, such as the coverings which

protected his hands (Kelim 16:6); before he cast the ingredients into the

crucible, the dyer made a small sample for himself which was known as the

"taste" (Men. 42b); the ingredients were ground with a special handmill

(Tosef. Shab. 9 (10):19). During this period, some places were known as

centers of dyeing: Migdal Zevaya on the eastern bank of the Jordan, which

was noted for the production of cloth; Haifa, which was also called Purpurin

(Purple); and a place called Luz where the tekhelet was manufactured (Sot.

46b). After the Bar Kokhba War (132–135 c.e.) dyeing was developed

in Lydda and Beth-Shean, both important weaving centers.

Middle Ages, as the Jews had been masters of the techniques of the

craft from ancient times, in some districts, especially in the Mediterranean

region, the preparation of dyes and dyeing of cloth was considered mainly a

Jewish occupation. Such occupations were generally despised and their

practice by Jews was seen as part of the

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 general humiliation of the Jewish people. However, some sources

indicate that dyeing was a highly respectable profession.

The apparent contradiction points to a difference in social and

economic standing between the artisan engaged in the craft and the

merchant who dealt in the ingredients (though this distinction was not

always clearly expressed in the sources). During this period, Jewish trade in

dyestuffs expanded extensively. Jewish merchants imported reseda from

eastern India, via Egypt and Tunisia, to Italy and Spain, and exported

saffron from Tunisia to southern Europe. Those trading in indigo between

Egypt and Europe were known as alnili (nil = indigo). Contemporary letters

illustrate the range of the undertakings: a Jewish merchant of Kairouan

wrote to his friend in Egypt that in Sicily only indigo of the best quality could

be sold; another merchant, head of the Babylonian congregation of Fostat

(Old Cairo), wrote to an associate in Tyre in the 11 th century, "The price of

indigo has risen over the last fortnight because it was in great demand

among the people of Syria and the West…." Documents also point to the

high prices of these commodities: 270 pounds of indigo cost from 100 to 300

quarter dinars. Jews also developed the manufacture of dyes, especially in

Greece and Italy, where they were most active in the south, and in Sicily;

important

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 dyeing centers existed in Brindisi, Benevento, Salerno, Agrigento,

Trani, and Cosenza. In these localities, the dyehouse was sometimes the

center of the Jewish quarter, along with the synagogue.

Benjamin of Tudela found Jews engaged in dyeing in several localities

in Ereẓ Israel, notably in Jerusalem, Jezreel, Lydda, Bethlehem, and Bet

Nubi. In Jerusalem, their shops were situated in a special building which

they had obtained from King Baldwin II. In 1231, Emperor Frederick II

created a crown monopoly of the silk and dyeing industries and Jewish firms

in Trani were appointed to administer it. When the monopoly came to an end

with the death of the emperor in 1250, the Jews continued to engage in this

industry, which also spread to the north of Italy. In Montpellier, France, Jews

were prominent in the manufacture of dyes, while in Spain they had

engaged in the craft from the Muslim period, especially

in Seville and Saragossa. After the Christian reconquest, the Jews continued

in this occupation, in particular in Saragossa where they owned special

workshops. Among the responsa of Solomon b. Abraham Adret are clear

allusions to the existence of dyers' guilds. During the 16 th century, the

occupation expanded after Safed had become the Jewish center of the wool

weaving industry.

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 During this period, dyeing was highly developed in a number of Jewish

communities in the Ottoman Empire, especially

in Salonika and Constantinople. During the 17th century, the Salonika dye

industry declined, along with weaving, mainly as a result of competition from

Venice and Ancona. Jews of Brest-Litovsk are often mentioned as experts in

manufacture in Poland and Lithuania. Responsa literature contains numerous

accounts of the craft of dyeing, the tools employed, and the various methods

used in the preparation of dyes. There are descriptions of a dyeing shop

where the work was carried out (Responsa of Abraham, the son of

Maimonides, no. 117); of a dye-pit (ibid., no. 101); and of barrels in which

wool was dyed (Responsa of Samuel b. Moses di Medina, Ḥm 462).

Documents also mention dyers who were expert in a given color: Samāk,

the expert in preparing dyes from the sumac shrub; quirmizini, the expert in

crimson, etc.

Modern Times, in the Near East, the Jews continued to practice this

profession during the 19th century. The surname Zebag (dyer), still

widespread among Oriental Jews, is evidence of the fact. In Damascus in the

middle of the 19th century, 70 of the 5,000 Jews were dyers. Jews also

played an important part in the development of dye ingredients in the

Americas. Planting of indigo was introduced in Georgia

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 during the 17th century and Moses Lindo from London invested large

sums in the cultivation of indigo in South Carolina in 1756. The development

of modern chemistry and the chemical industry, in which Jewish scientists

and entrepreneurs played a considerable role, brought to a close the

traditional methods in the manufacture of dyes and dyeing.

Bibliography:

Demsky, in: iej, 16 (1966); G. Caro, Sozialund Wirtschaftsgeschichte der

Juden, 2 vols. (1908–20), index, s.v.Farben; R. Strauss, Die Juden im

Koenigreich Sizilien … (1910), 66ff.; A.S. Hershberg, Ḥayyei ha-Tarbut be-

Yisrael bi-Tekufat ha-Mishnah ve-ha-Talmud, 1 (1924), 207–316; I.S.

Emmanuel, Histoire de l'industrie des tissus des Israelites de

Salonique (1935), 16ff.; J. Starr, in: Byzantinisch-neugriechische

Jahrbuecher, 12 (1936), 42–49; Ashtor, Toledot, 1 (1944), 176ff.; R.S.

Lopez, in: Speculum, 20 (1945), 23f. (Eng.); Roth, Italy, index; J.R.

Marcus, Early American Jewry, 2 vols. (1951–53), index, s.v.Dyeing

Industry, Indigo; S. Avitsur, in: Sefunot, 6 (1962), 58ff.; Hirschberg,

Afrikah, 1 (1965), 200ff.; M. Wischnitzer, History of Jewish Crafts and

Guilds (1965), 127ff., 203f., and index; S.D. Goitein, Mediterranean Society,

1 (1967), index. (www.encyclopedia.com)

 CHAPTER 2

Review of Related Literature and Studies