Indigo
An important blue dyestuff, until about 1900 indigo was obtained entirely from the plants of the genera Indigofera and Isatis but is now manufactured synthetically. Indigo plants are stiff-stemmed shrubs with pinnately compound leaves and small, reddish or reddish-yellow flowers.
The growing of indigo plants for dye was widespread, from the East Indies to the New World, although the plant originally came from India. In the sixteenth century, indigo was brought to Europe from India by Dutch, Portuguese, and English traders. During the early years of British occupation of India, natural indigo was a major export. In 1883, a German scientist, Adolf von Baeyer, elucidated its chemical structure, and indigo then was synthesized commercially.
In addition to being used as a dye, the plant has several medicinal uses. It is a stimulant, alterative (a medicine that, taken over a course of time, gradually restores health), and purgative, and also is an antiseptic and astringent. It is used particularly in the treatment of the enlargement of the liver and spleen, epilepsy, and nervous afflictions. Leaves of indigo are used in treating whooping cough, lung diseases, and kidney complaints such as dropsy. The synthetic indigo dye is used for dyeing and printing cotton and rayon and as a pigment in paints, lacquers, and printing inks.
Further Reading
Watt, George. (1996) "Indigofera (Indigo), The Dye-Yielding Species." In The Commercial Products of India, Being an Abridgement of the Dictionary of the Economic Products of India. New Delhi: Today and Tomorrow's Printers and Publishers, 660–685.
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