Pigments, Dyes, and Colourants

It was one of the first great achievements of chemistry in the dawning industrial age, and even before the development of plastics, to provide mankind with the annually renewing colour variety of nature in the form of synthetic dyes. Dyed clothing became affordable for the ordinary citizen. Colourful fabrics, kitchen utensils, toys, and automobiles made the world more colourful and increased the joy of life. Illustration colour printing brought a realistic impression of distant worlds into the living room at home and also has made imaginative product advertisements possible. However, the dynamic development of the textile and fashion industry and the careless disposal of its industrial waste also led to environmental pollution that posed a threat to the environment and to human and animal health. So, there is a return to natural dyes, which are perceived as more environmentally friendly and more biodegradable, especially as, even today, artisanal dye extraction and dyeing is practised as part of artisanal spinning, knitting, and weaving and has remained as a living craft in many traditional cultures of Africa, Asia, and the Scottish Highlands. Natural dyestuffs are extracted from almost all parts of plants and are obtained from lichens, algae, mosses, and mushrooms. In today's chemistry and biochemistry, instead of extracting pigments from wildlife, fungal cultivars, fungal enzymes, genetic engineering, and white biotechnology have created justified hope for enhanced large-scale dyestuff production in bioreactors for applications as food colourants, in the cosmetics industry, and in sustainable textile dyeing.