Natural Product Radiance Vol 3(2) March-April 2004 91

Explorer

Plants used forextracting dye

Natural plant-based dyes havebeen in use since ancient time.Researchers have also realized eco-friendlyeffect of natural dyes hence many reportshave been published in recent years onnatural dyes. During the ethnomedicinalstudies the weavers in villages of WestBengal especially Baluchuri designers atBishnupur- Bankura, Rajagram- Bankura,24-Parganas and Medinipur werecontacted and information on plants usedas natural dye was collected.

Following plants are used byvillagers for extracting natural dye:

Acacia catechu Willd.(heartwood), Albizia lebbeckBenth.(fruit), Butea mono-sperma(Lam.) Kuntze (flowers),Camellia sinensis (Linn.) O. Kuntze(leaves), Ceriops decandra (Griff.)Ding Hou (bark), Ceriops tagal(Perr.) C. B. Robins. (bark), Citrusaurantifolia (Christm.) Swingle (juicemixed with Palash), Daucas carota

Linn. (roots), Mimusops elengi Linn.(bark), Punica granatum Linn. (fruitrind), Rhizophora apiculata Blume(bark), R. mucronata Lam. (bark),R. stylosa Griff. (bark), Swieteniamahagoni Jacq. (fruit), Tageteserecta Linn. (flower), Ziziphus jujubaMill. (ash of the twig), and Z. oenopliaMill. (ash of the twig).

Diospyros peregrina(Gaertn.) Gurke (Hindi—Gab) fruitextract is smeared on the thread to increaseits longevity and extract from bark ofMimusops elengi Linn. (Hindi- Bakul,Maulsari) is used in textiles to increasethe lusture.

Indigenous process fordeveloping clay dye

Banak clay dye is an excellentnatural dye obtained from undergroundsoil. It is in use since 250 years and theage of the clay is approximately 65 millionyears. The Banak clay occurs at a depthfrom 1-2.5 m in the crop fields inAnantapur, Rajnarayan-Chak, Dobandi,

Maity Chalk, Maguri, Tulya and some othervillages. In these villages nearly thousandfamilies are engaged in clay dye industry.Banak clay yields lustrous showy red dye,which is used in tiles, earthen pitcher,cooking pots, bricks and walls.

For preparing clay dye Banakclay is collected from fields duringsummer. Usually 500 kg Banak clay yields50 kg dye. Clay is put into a series ofcovered earthen vessels along withsufficient amount of demineralised water(preferably rain water) for 3 days. Afterthree days clay is stirred manually by legsfollowed by precipitation. In second phaseof processing the upper supernatantsolution is placed in earthen pots kept insunlight for seven days. In the third phasethe water is transferred into coveredearthen pots containing clay and pots areagain put in sunlight for ninety days. Blackcoloured clay cakes gets deposited in theinner wall of the pots which is the readyfor use as clay dye. The shelf-life of theclay dye is quite stable at the temperatureranging from -4 to 20º C. For thecommercial preparation of this dyeminimum 4000-5000 linearly arrangedearthen pots and exposure to sunlight arethe two essential requirements. The potterswho prepare this dye harvest about88, 000 litres/100m2 rain water both fordyeing and drinking. The dye givesprotection against salinity to earthen potsand other items .

Plant and clay dyes used by weaversand potters in West Bengal

Ashish GhoshHabibpur Saraswati Vidyamandir High School

P. O. & District Paschim Medinipur - 721101, West Bengal

AbstractPotential value of easily available natural plant dyes used by the weavers

of South Bengal and process of making Banak clay dyes, used in colouring tiles,dolls, earthen pitcher, cooking pots, walls, etc. in Purba Medinipur have beendiscussed in this paper for further exploration of these indigenous practices.Keywords: Natural plant dyes, Banak clay dyes, West Bengal, IndigenousKnowledge.IPC Code; Int. cl.7 — C09B61/00