Indigofera tinctoria

Indigo was originally made from two plants. One is woad, Isatis tinctoria, a native of Greece and Italy, and the other is indigo, Indigofera tinctoria, a native of India. At the end of the nineteenth century, German scientists synthesized the dye, and production from plant sources declined. Most of the dye today comes from China. 

The blue dye indigo, derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria, has been used in India for thousands of years. Traders introduced it to the Mediterranean area and then to Europe. Tyrian purple, a natural dark purple dye obtained from the mucous gland of a Mediterranean snail of the genus Murex, was a symbol of royalty before the collapse of the Roman empire. Alizarin, a bright red dye obtained from madder root Rubia tinctorum), a plant native to India and northeastern Asia, has been found in cloth entombed with Egyptian mummies. 

Some important dyes are extracted from species in the legume family. One of the world s most important, natural dyes is indigo, extracted from the foliage of the indigo Indigofera tinctoria) of south Asia and to a lesser degree from American indigo (/. suffruticosa) of tropical... 

Indigo Coloring matter Indigofera tinctoria India... 

Mu Lan (Indigofera tinctoria L.), a product from the Chinese Materia Medica, is used for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The main constituents are the family of bisindoles, known genetically as indirubins... 

Indigofera tinctoria L. Legumiuoseae Ind, Sri, Sen, W. trop roots epilepsy powdered ext. with other 34, 67... 

In 1992, Xia and Zenk could show in feeding studies with C-labelled indole and 3- C-labelled (S)-tryptophan on various plants, including Polygonum tinctorium, Indigofera tinctoria and Isatis tinctoria, that the metabolism does not involve tryptophan directly, but proceeded via indole. [16] In the biosynthesis of indoxyl, tryptophan is first degraded, by means of a tryptophanase, to indole, and this is then hydroxylated. [17] Finally, indoxyl binds to various sugars. 

Thereby indican (lH-indol-3-yl /l-(D)-glucoside) from Indigofera tinctoria), and respectively isatan A and B (liT-indol-3-yl 6 -0-malonyl-(D)-ribohex-3 -ulopyranoside and liT-indol-3-yl jS-(D)-ribohex-3 -ulopyranoside from Isatis tinctoria and Polygonum tinctorium), are all cleaved enzymatically by jS-glucosidases. [13,19]... 

Colorants containing anthraquinone and its derivatives can be obtained from parasitic insects such as Dactylopius coccus, i.e., cochineal and Kerria lacca, i.e., lac. Alizarin can be extracted from the dried roots of the Rubia plant, and indigo can be extracted from Isatis tinctoria or Indigofera tinctoria. Some derivatives are shown in Figure 3.10. 

Indican a glucoside composed of indoxyl and one molecule of ucose, m.p. 57 "C, [a]n -66° (water). It occurs in Indigofera species, e.g. the indigo plant (Indigofera tinctoria), and several other higher plants. It is the precursor of natural Indigo (see). 

Indigo Indigofera Species Indigo s ability to produce and extensive range of beautiful blue shades has made it the most successful dye plant ever known. The commercially available indigo powder is made from the leaves of Indigofera tinctoria, which requires hot, sunny and humid conditions to flourish... 

Indigo used in blue dyes can be obtained from tropical plants such as Indigofera tinctoria. 

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