A STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTIFUNGAL AGENTS ON COTTON FABRICS COLORED BY GAMBIR NATURAL DYES (UNCARIA GAMBIR)

The increasing interest in the use of natural dyes is not accompanied by sufficient information and method for the application due to broad natural dyes resources existence. Gambir (Uncaria gambir), one of promising favorable natural dyes, has been used as batik coloring for decades. However, the application of gambir extract as a textile colorant faces a severe problem to be encountered which is the microbial growth such as fungi, mold, and bacteria. This study proposed several antifungal agents to suppress the growth of the fungus such as chitosan, aloe vera, and formaldehyde. To conduct the fungus inhibition concentration of every antifungal agent, Aspergillus niger was introduced on the colored cloth medium with the addition of Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB) growth media. Three methods of antifungal addition during the coloring process were investigated namely pre-coloring, post-coloring, and mix coloring process. The growth of Aspergillus niger was observed and measured the diameter and thickness of the colony. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the treatment significantly. The result showed that all concentration of chitosan and formaldehyde addition, significantly, could suppress the fungus growth. However, formaldehyde is a toxic ingredient and harmful to the environment which becomes a limitation in the application. Meanwhile, from the significance level, Aloe vera could not inhibit the Aspergillus niger growth with the addition of 2 and 5 g/L, but it could suppress the Aspergillus niger growth with the addition of 8 g/L. Furthermore, the optimum condition was observed on the addition of 5 g/L chitosan at post-coloring method because of the minimum growth area of the Aspergillus niger

Optimization Model on the Effect of Clove Oil, Formaldehyde, and Chitosan Added to Batik Fabric Colored with Gambier (<i>Uncaria gambir</i> Roxb): Antifungal Properties and Stability

Triggered by the concept of sustainability, the use of natural dyes in batik fabric processing has increased recently. To inhibit fungus growth on batik fabric colored with natural dyes, either clove oil or formaldehyde was added as an antifungal agent. To increase the stability of the interaction between the antifungal agent and the batik fabric, chitosan was used as a crosslinker. A modified version of the standard tests American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) 30 and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied as the characterization method. The results showed that the growth percentage of fungi in Batik treated with either clove oil or formaldehyde was much lower than that in the control sample. Growth of Aspergillus niger could be prevented by about 32% using clove oil and 94% using formaldehyde. The optimal condition was obtained with 1% chitosan as a crosslinking reagent, 15.91 ppm of formaldehyde, and 60-min immersion time, with absorbance intensity of formaldehyde crosslinking solution and fungus growth areas being 0.159 and 2.47%, respectively

A Study on the Effectiveness of Antifungal Agents on Cotton Fabrics Colored by Gambir Natural Dyes (Uncaria Gambir)

The increasing interest in the use of natural dyes is not accompanied by sufficient information and method for the application due to broad natural dyes resources existence. Gambir (Uncaria gambir), one of promising favorable natural dyes, has been used as batik coloring for decades. However, the application of gambir extract as a textile colorant faces a severe problem to be encountered which is the microbial growth such as fungi, mold, and bacteria. This study proposed several antifungal agents to suppress the growth of the fungus such as chitosan, aloe vera, and formaldehyde. To conduct the fungus inhibition concentration of every antifungal agent, Aspergillus Niger was introduced on the colored cloth medium with the addition of Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB) growth media. Three methods of antifungal addition during the coloring process were investigated namely pre-coloring, post-coloring, and mix coloring process. The growth of Aspergillus Niger was observed and measured the diameter and thickness of the colony. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the treatment significantly. The result showed that all concentration of chitosan and formaldehyde addition, significantly, could suppress the fungus growth. However, formaldehyde is a toxic ingredient and harmful to the environment which becomes a limitation in the application. Meanwhile, from the significance level, Aloe vera could not inhibit the Aspergillus Niger growth with the addition of 2 and 5 g/L, but it could suppress the Aspergillus Niger growth with the addition of 8 g/L. Furthermore, the optimum condition was observed on the addition of 5 g/L chitosan at post-coloring method because of the minimum growth area of the Aspergillus Niger