NATURAL DYES OF THE PHILIPPINES 



By William H. Brown 

 INTRODUCTION 



In the first half of the last century, natural dyes were very 

 important articles of commerce. But with the advent of syn- 

 thetic products, which as a class are cheaper, more brillant and 

 much more varied, the demand for natural dyes diminished until 

 at the present time only a few are of any commercial impor- 

 tance. It is very probable that it is only a question of time 

 before even the remaining ones will be replaced by artificial 

 products. 



In the Philippines there are a large number of plants which 

 yield dyes, but only three of these are of any considerable 

 importance, while only one (sappanwood, or sibukau, from Caes- 

 alpinia sap'pan) is exported. Owing to the small and contin- 

 ually decreasing commercial value of the natural dyes, it has 

 not seemed worth while to prepare an extensive discussion of 

 them. In the following account are listed some of the more 

 important and interesting Philippine dye-plants. Many others 

 are known to have been used locally, while still others are listed 

 in works from other countries as yielding dyes. For an exten- 

 sive account of the more important, natural, organic dyes of 

 the world the reader is referred to Perkin and Everest,* from 

 whom much of the information given in the following pages 

 was taken. 



Family ZINGIBERACEAE 



Genus CURCUMA 

 CURCUMA LONGA L. DiLAU. 



A description of this species and its local names are given 

 in the section on resins, gums and oils. 



The rhizomes of Curcuma longa yield a yellow coloring matter 

 known as turmeric (curcumin). This product is not exported 

 from the Philippines at the present time. The value of the 



* Perkin, A. G., and Everest, A. E., The natural organic colouring 

 matters (1918). 



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