A study on the effect of berberine extracted from barberry root on wool and cotton fabrics properties

The alkaloid berberine extracted from the fruits of Berberis vulgaris is a natural dye with antibacterial activity. In this paper we studied the dyeing properties and antibacterial activity, on wool and cotton fabrics, of roots extracts, as they are available as waste materials from barberry root. Wool and cotton fabrics were dyed with barberry root, in the presence of tannic acid, and their washing fastness and antibacterial efficacy assessed. Their characteristics such as color by reflective spectroscopy, antibacterial properties and color fastness by antibacterial test, ISO 105-C01and ISO 105-B01 method were studied. The results confirmed that the amount of absorbance of berberine extracted from barberry root on wool fabrics create high level antibacterial property, but the absorbance on cotton fabrics was not enough to obtain acceptable level of antibacterial activity. Thus the amount absorbance of berberine on the fabrics was affected on the other dyeing properties. According to the results, it can be concluded that the extract of the berberine from barberry roots can be considered as a natural dye of acceptable fastness properties together with excellent antibacterial activity for woolen textiles in comparison with cotton textiles.