The majority of the antimicrobial compounds used for treating textiles are synthetic based and are not considered to be environmentally friend. Therefore, solanum incanum fruit and onion peel were selected for the current study based on its potent antimicrobial activity. The active substance was extracted from fruit and peel by using the maceration extraction technique for 7 days with mass to solvent ratio of 1:10. The solanum incanum fruit and red onion peel extracts were applied alone and together, on the cotton fabric samples by the pad-dry-cure method, using citric acid as a cross-linking agent. The antibacterial activity and the wash durability of the treated cotton fabrics were assessed by AATCC 100-2004 method. Among all treatments, the cotton fabric treated with 50:50 combinations were found to be more in bacterial reduction. It was 100% and 99.92% bacterial reduction in cotton fabric with 5g/l concentration for S. aureus and E. coli respectively. The wash durability of fabric treated with 50:50 combinations was 85% for S.aureus and 84.17% was for E.coli bacteria after 15 wash cycle. After treatment, the tensile strength air permeability, bending length, water absorbency and soil degradation were tested. Air permeability, water absorbency, and tensile strength were decreased. Soil degradation tests proved the biodegradability of the treated sample. The result recommended that the use of herbal extract could potentially be used as a substituent to a synthetic agent.
Authors: Tesfa Gesese (Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University,Bahir Dar, Ethiopia), Solomon Fanta (Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University,Bahir Dar, Ethiopia), Desalegn Mersha (Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University,Bahir Dar, Ethiopia),
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