Investigating the Potential Use of Papaya Leaf Extract as Natural Dyes in the Textile Industry
Synthetic dyes are widely used in the majority of the large textile industry. The use of synthetic dyes can cause water pollution from sewage disposal of the textile industry. Some types of synthetic dyes contain heavy metals that are harmful to human health and can damage the environment. With increasing awareness of the current environmental problems, people begin to focus on returning back to natural dyes. These natural dyes can be extracted from various parts of plants, such as leaves, flowers, fruit, wood or stems, and roots. Papaya leaves have the potential to be used as a basic ingredient to make natural dyes due to fairly high chlorophyll content. Therefore, we took the initiative to conduct research on the production of natural dyes from papaya leaf extract. Papaya leaf extract was produced by using a solid-liquid extraction process using two different solvents, ethanol (96%) and n-hexane. From the results of the study, it was found that the most optimum extract results in the extraction process was about 2.20% of the raw material of dried papaya leaves by using ethanol solvent. The prepared cotton cloth was then colored with papaya leaf extract through three simple steps, namely: mordanting, dyeing, and fixation. Fabric staining results then tested its fastness by two methods, namely the rub method and the washing method with soap. From the test results it was found that the fabric which was dyed with papaya leaf extract was not too resistant to fade from rubbing and soap washing. Therefore, further research is needed, such as using other agents during the mordanting and fixation processes.