Increasing environmental awareness has made people realise
the importance of living in a world with a clean atmosphere. The
major hindrance that comes en route to achieving this is posed by
microorganisms, which are the causative sources of objectionable
odour, stains, dermal infection, product deterioration, allergies and
other related diseases. Textiles materials find immense applications
in day-to-day life. Textiles, especially of natural origin, are
susceptible to microbial attack, as these provide a large surface area
and absorb moisture, which facilitates microbial growth. Hence,
there has been growing demand to develop antimicrobial finishing
for textile materials, which offer improved protection to users
against microbes without destroying the desirable characteristics
[1,2].
Nowadays, popularity of more natural lifestyle based on naturally
sustainable goods is on the rise. The use of natural dyes for
textile coloration has re-flourished due to their recently discovered
deodorizing, antimicrobial [3], antifeedant [4] and UV protective [5]
properties, in addition, to the sober and elegant shades on different
types of fabrics. Globally, considerable research work has already
been done and is currently underway on textile coloration with
natural dyes for assessment of dyeing, colorimetric and fastness
properties [6e13]. A few researchers had also studied the antimicrobial
properties of naturally dyed textile materials [14e18]. But,
the available literature on the vast field of applications of natural
dyes in textile coloration is very limited.