Characterizing the Dyes of Pre-Columbian Andean Textiles: Comparison of Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometry and HPLC-DAD

Abstract

The complex and colorful textiles of ancient Peru have long been a focus of technical study, particularly to characterize the sources of the wide variety of dyes utilized by these Andean artisans. This manuscript describes the characterization of the dyes of both primary (red, blue, and yellow) and secondary (purple, orange, and green) colors sampled from textiles spanning five major civilizations: the Paracas Necropolis, the Nazca, the Wari, the Chancay, and the Lambayeque, all from Peru. All but the Paracas Necropolis samples were part of technical conservation studies of the ancient South American textiles collections of the Michael C. Carlos Museum. Analysis of the dyes was carried out utilizing direct analysis in real time time-of-flight mass spectrometry (DART-MS) and paper spray MS. To validate these ambient ionization MS methods, the samples were further investigated using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet-visible diode array detection (DAD). These results show that ambient ionization MS methods are simple and fast for characterization of the general classes of dyes, e.g., plant reds vs. insect reds, and indigoids in blues and greens. Due to the myriad possible sources of yellow dyes and their tendency to undergo oxidative decomposition, positively identifying those components in these yarns was difficult, though some marker compounds and flavonoid decomposition products were readily identified by ambient ionization mass spectrometry.

Identification of Acid Red 73 (CI 27290) in Cosmetic Hair Dye Preparations by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography – Photo Diode Array

“…This can be proven by the chromatogram results that appear at different retention times (RT) with the standard and spike solutions and the wavelengths produced by different samples with standard and spike solutions. So it can be concluded that cosmetic hair dye preparations do not contain Acid Red 73, and this hair dye preparation is safe to use [97][98][99][100].…”

Trendbericht Analytische Chemie 2024

“…In diesem Zuge kommen vermehrt ambiente MS-Techniken zum Einsatz, beispielsweise DESI (desorption electrospray ionization), (droplet-)LMJ-SSP (liquid microjunction surface sampling probe) oder DART (direct analysis in real time). [20][21][22][23] Sie ermöglichen eine schnelle, minimal-invasive und zum Teil ortsaufgelöste Analyse von Verbindungen direkt von der Oberfläche der historischen Objekte, wobei die Untersuchungen wenig oder keine Probenvorbereitung benötigen und unter Atmosphärendruck erfolgen können. So lassen sich etwa historische Textilproben mit DESI-MS weitestgehend zerstörungsfrei und ohne vorhergehende Offline-Extraktion auf organische Farbstoffe analysieren (Abbildung 4).…”

Colour Analysis: An Introduction to the Power of Studying Pigments and Dyes in Archaeological and Historical Objects

“…Finally, specific attention to dyed textiles is given in the contributions by Campos Ayala et al [16] and Łucejko et al [17]. In their article, Campos Ayala et al address the characterisation of the dyes used to produce primary (red, blue, and yellow) and secondary (purple, orange, and green) colours in Peruvian textiles spanning five major civilizations: the Paracas Necropolis, the Nazca, the Wari, the Chancay, and the Lambayeque [16].…”

“…Finally, specific attention to dyed textiles is given in the contributions by Campos Ayala et al [16] and Łucejko et al [17]. In their article, Campos Ayala et al address the characterisation of the dyes used to produce primary (red, blue, and yellow) and secondary (purple, orange, and green) colours in Peruvian textiles spanning five major civilizations: the Paracas Necropolis, the Nazca, the Wari, the Chancay, and the Lambayeque [16]. With the intention to validate the use of ambient ionisation MS techniques, such as direct analysis in real time (DART-MS) and paper spray MS, the authors report on the results obtained from both reference samples and archaeological textiles, thus providing the reader with an important database.…”