Preparation and properties of cotton and wool fabrics dyed by black rice extract

Black rice is known as a health-promoting food for its abundant content of anthocyanins. Anthocyanins possess various functionalities, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-tumor, and anti-inflammatory effects. However, they are easily wasted during the cooking process since they are water soluble pigments. Thus, the aim of this study was to use the black rice extract produced from the cooking process as a natural pigment and functional agent for textile finishing. In this study, wool and cotton fabrics were dyed by the black rice extract and the dyed fabrics were investigated by various analyzers. For cotton fabric, cationization was conducted before the dyeing process. The results revealed that wool and cotton fabrics were colored in reddish brown through the dyeing process. In addition, the wool and cotton fabrics dyed by black rice extract showed superior colorfastness in drycleaning and washing conditions compared to fabrics dyed by other natural pigments. In particular, the wool and cotton fabrics dyed by black rice extract possessed antibacterial and antioxidant characteristics. It was further observed that the functionality was increased by repeating the dyeing process.