Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 13 (1), January 2014, pp. 195-201 Natural dyes from Himalayan lichens Preeti Shukla, DK Upreti*, S Nayaka & Priti Tiwari Lichenology laboratory, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh-226001, India E-mail: upretidk@rediffmail.com Received 09.07.12, revised 25.02.13 Eleven species of lichens collected from different sites of Gharwal region of Indian Himalayas were estimated for dye production using boiling water method (BWM), ammonia fermentation method (AFM) and Di-methyl sulphoxide extraction method (DEM). The dyes extracted were tested on silk, tussar silk, absorbent cotton and a co-relation of dye colour with the lichen substance present was also made. The lichens produced orange, yellow, blue-grey, purple and brown colour dyes. The effect of sunlight and the stability of colours after washing were also determined. Lichen dyes can be used in handlooms to serve local people in their livelihood. Keywords: Himalayas, Lichens, Dyes, Colour IPC Int. Cl. 8 : C09B, C09B 61/00, D06P, D06B, D21H, B27K Lichens are symbiotic organism composed of a photobiont usually algae or blue-green algae and a phycobiont which together form an independent physiological unit. The lichens have an ability to form wide range of secondary metabolites as a result of slow growth and harsh living conditions which are believed to serve as antimicrobial, anti-herbivore and antigrowth agents 1,2,3 . Besides the antibiotic properties, lichens have an inherent ability to produce natural dyes. Lichens have been used as source of natural dyes since time immemorial. Orchil (purple dye) was the first documented dye produced from Roccella spp. through ammonia fermentation method. The purple dye from Roccella was historically very important as ‘Royal-purple’ throughout the Europe before nineteenth century until first synthetic dye came into existence in the year 1856 4 . There are about 20,000 lichen species described all over the world so far, and India represents 10% (2305) of the lichens known 5 . The Himalayan flora consists of large number of parmelioid lichen species that provide excellent source of dyes 6 and 157 Indian lichen species belonging to 65 genera have potential dyeing properties. Parmelioid lichens contain characteristic compounds known as depsides and depsidones that are formed by joining two or sometimes three phenolic units, derived through acetate-polymelonate pathway 7 , are the main source in production of dyes which can colour natural fibres 8 . Except few records of lichen dyes from India so far 9 , the dyeing properties of Indian lichens are not known. In India, the ethnic groups in Garhwal Himalayas are known to dye wool from dyes extracted from lichens species 10 . Thus in the present study an attempt has been made to screen out the most common and abundantly growing Himalayan parmelioid lichens for their potential of dyeing properties. Materials and methods Collection and identification of lichen sample Lichens were collected from Ghursu Top, Auli, Joshimath and Chopta area of North-Western Himalayas of Uttarakhand state in Garhwal region during May, 2011.The specimens were identified after studying their morphology, anatomy using a Labomed TM stereomicroscope and Leica TM DM 500 optical microscope and chemical properties with the help of ‘spot tests’, UV light and standardized thin-layer chromatography (TLC) following procedure of John A. Elix et al 11 and Orange A. et al 12 . The specimens were authentically identified using relevant key and monographs by Divakar & —————— *Corresponding author