Abstract
In recent years, synthetic dyes have proven to be toxic, carcinogenic and polluting. Thus, several researchers have been interested in natural dyes in order to replace them. Herein, the Turnsole (Dyer's Litmus) was selected to dye silk and wool fibers. The influence of four parameters, including pH extraction, microwave power, extraction duration and dye bath concentration was investigated. Moreover, four factors, particularly total phenolic content (TFC), condensed tannins (CT), total flavonoids content (TFC) and color strength (K/S), were studied to evaluate the extraction efficacy. As a result, Turnsole has been found to be an attractive source of natural dye especially for dyeing protein fibers, namely wool and silk.