Naturally colored cotton for wearable applications

Marina Naoumkina; Doug J Hinchliffe; Gregory N Thyssen

doi:10.3389/fpls.2024.1350405

Naturally colored cotton for wearable applications

Front Plant Sci. 2024 Mar 21:15:1350405. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1350405. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Marina Naoumkina¹, Doug J Hinchliffe¹, Gregory N Thyssen¹

Affiliation

¹ Cotton Fiber Bioscience and Utilization Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Southern Regional Research Center (SRRC), New Orleans, LA, United States.

Abstract

Naturally colored cotton (NCC) offers an environmentally friendly fiber for textile applications. Processing white cotton fiber into textiles requires extensive energy, water, and chemicals, whereas processing of NCC skips the most polluting activity, scouring-bleaching and dyeing; therefore, NCC provides an avenue to minimize the harmful impacts of textile production. NCC varieties are suitable for organic agriculture since they are naturally insect and disease-resistant, salt and drought-tolerant. Various fiber shades, ranging from light green to tan and brown, are available in the cultivated NCC (Gossypium hirsutum L.) species. The pigments responsible for the color of brown cotton fiber are proanthocyanidins or their derivatives synthesized by the flavonoid pathway. Due to pigments, the NCC has excellent ultraviolet protection properties. Some brown cotton varieties exhibited superior thermal resistance of fiber that can be used to make fabrics with enhanced flame retardancy. Here, we review molecular mechanisms involved in the pigment production of brown cotton and challenges in breeding NCC varieties with a wide range of colors but without penalty in fiber quality. Also, we discuss opportunities for NCC with flame-retarding properties in textile applications.

Keywords: condensed tannin; flame retardance; flavan-3-ols; naturally colored cotton; proanthocyanidin pigments.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service financially supported the research (CRIS project 6054-21000-019-00D). The mention of trade names or commercial products is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by USDA. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.