Abstract—Problem statement: Traditionally the extraction of natural dyes from plant materials was done by soaking method or boiling method which requires longer extraction time, higher temperature and higher consumption of water. Extractions of colorant using boiling method normally produce a small amount of yield. Low yield of natural dyes is one of the factors that limit the use of natural dyes in comparison with synthetic dyes. Hence, there is a growing demand for developing suitable extraction technique for more efficient and effective extraction of natural textile dyes. Approach: This study demonstrated ultrasonic cleaner as a technique to extract colorant from a selected plant, i.e Xylocarpus moluccensis species which can be found abundantly in peninsular Malaysia. Colorant from combination of heartwood and bark of Xylocarpus moluccensis was extracted at different ultrasonic volume, time and temperature. The color strength of the dye was analyzed by using Lab Scan XE UV-visible spectrophotometer. Result: Results show the highest percentage of total yield dye extract using ultrasonic cleaner was produced at optimum condition (extraction time: 80 minutes, extraction temperature: 49oC and sonic volume: medium) with 80ml of 0.1M sodium hydroxide as the solvent. The yield produced was higher than that of boiling method and thus gave higher intensity of red crude extract. Conclusion: The utilization of ultrasonic cleaner was found to have significant improvement in the extraction of natural dyes compared to traditional boiling method.

Index Terms—UV-visible spectrophotometer, ultrasonic cleaner, natural dye, colorant, anthraquinone

Ruziyati Tajuddin is with Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) (e-mail: ruziy039@salam.uitm.edu.my).

Cite: Norul Azilah Abdul Rahman, Siti Marsinah Tumin, and Ruziyati Tajuddin, "Optimization of Ultrasonic Extraction Method of Natural Dyes from Xylocarpus Moluccensis," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 53-55, 2013.