Fungal colorants in applications – focus on Cortinarius species

Abstract

Secondary metabolites in fungi offer an interesting source of bio-based compounds that could be used as colorants in many applications. From a historical point of view, fungal natural dyes have been used more rarely than plant-based dyes. This paper investigates the potential of fungal colorants, using Cortinarius species as examples. In our research, fruiting bodies of the fungi Cortinarius sanguineus and Cortinarius semisanguineus were used as sources of anthraquinone dyestuffs. From 10 kg of fresh fruiting bodies, 60 g of anthraquinone powder was obtained, 6% of the dry weight content. The most abundant compounds were emodin, dermocybin and their glucosides, which formed over 90% of the total dyestuff amount. Pure emodin and dermocybin, as well as the crude water extract, were used for the dyeing and printing of natural and synthetic fibres. Conventional mordant techniques and high-temperature (HT) disperse dye techniques were applied, and light and washing fastness were tested according to International Organization for Standardization standards. Our experiments show that the yields of dye powders extracted from fungi are reasonable compared with the yields of, for example, madder (Rubia tinctorum). Natural anthraquinones produce strong and bright colours on several types of fibres. In particular, for HT disperse dyed polyester, the light and washing fastness properties were excellent. Anthraquinones are common in nature and there are many fungal species which produce them, so there are a variety of possibilities for growing fungi. The use of large-scale cultures is an interesting perspective for future biocolorant production.

Dyeing of wool yarn with natural dyes of Lactarius deliciosus and L. sanguifluus from Turkey

“…In a previous study, anthraquinone dyestuff (60g anthraquinone powder from 10 kg fresh mushroom) was obtained in fruiting bodies of Cortinarius sanguineus and C. semisanguineus collected from Kuopio and Tuusula region of Finland, respectively [53] and natural and synthetic fibres were dyed with pure emodin and dermocybin found as major compounds in both Cortinarius species, as well as tap water extract. It was found that natural anthraquinones which produced light and dark colors such as yellow, orange and brown, could be suitable in dyeing and printing different textile materials.…”

Examining Safety of Biocolourants from Fungal and Plant Sources-Examples from Cortinarius and Tapinella, Salix and Tanacetum spp. and Dyed Woollen Fabrics

“…are ectomycorrhizal fungi growing mainly in coniferous forests. Of the secondary metabolites, fungi Cortinarius, subgroup Dermocybe, are rich in monomeric anthraquinones also containing dimeric pre-anthraquinones of flavomannin type [13,[64][65][66][67][68].…”

“…Among the more abundant compounds are emodin (13), emodin-1-glucoside, dermocybin (14), dermocybin-1-glucoside and dermorubin (15). Also, physcion (16), dermolutein, 5-chlorodermolutein, 5-chlorodermorubin, dermoglaucin, endocrocin, and erythroglaucin have been found [68]. Anthraquinones from Cortinarius species have inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and P. auerugosa [69], and many anthraquinones have bioactive properties [70].…”

“…Common natural dye sources T. vulgare, S. phylicifolia, C. semisanguineus, and T. atrotomentosa were chosen due to their high colouring and pharmacological potential, and the information we already had gained of their characteristics and dyeing properties [13,18,46,63,68,83,84]. The characteristic colourants of the studied plants and fungi are described in Table 2.…”

2018 BioColours conference

“…It was demonstrated that these dyes could be used in disperse dyeing of PET and PA without dispersing agents. A full paper entitled ‘ Fungal colorants in applications – focus on Cortinarius species ’ features in this Special Issue.…”