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Indigofera tinctora, page 1 of 2 | |
Common Names: Indigo, Indian indigo, True indigo. | |
Geographical Distribution: East Asia - China, widely cultivated and naturalised throughout the tropics, the exact native range of this species has been obscured. | |
Habitat: Indigofera tinctoria prefers sandy loamy soils it requires a moist well-drained soil and will not thrive in clay. The plant will grow in an acid environment, but will do better in neutral and basic (alkaline) soils, Indigofera tinctoria has been known to tolerate very alkaline conditions. This plant requires plenty of light it cannot grow in the shade. | |
Description: A deciduous shrub growing 1m - 2m high, flowering during July-September pollinated by Insects. Indigofera tinctoria is a frost tender plant of the tropics. A member of the legume family, Fabaceae, the third largest family of flowering plants, Indigofera tinctoria can biologically fix nitrogen, annually enriching the soil. | |
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Indigofera tinctora | |
Notes on Historical Use: Indigofera tinctoria is native to India one of the oldest known centres of indigo dye production. The association of India with indigo is revealed in the Greek word for the dye, indikon, meaning 'blue dye from India' or more literally 'Indian substance'. The Romans used the term indicum, which passed eventually into English as the word indigo. This now forms the basis of the name of a whole genus of plants. Many species of the Indigofera genus give blue indigo dye, of these Indigofera tinctoria is believed to give the highest yield (under ideal growing conditions). The name indigo also shows that trade in Indian indigo was already well established during the Greco-Roman period, and by implication that cultivation and processing of indigo were also well established. | |
The Romans used indigo as a pigment for painting, for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. It was a luxury, however, being imported from India to the Mediterranean by Arab merchants. | |
In 1498 the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India. This enabled direct trade with India and the Far East. Until this time trade was conducted over land, the routes were long and dangerous. In Alexandria and Baghdad important cities along the trade routes, Greek and Persian merchants levied heavy taxes on luxury goods like indigo. Opening the sea route bypassed these tax sites and directly resulted in a significant rise in the amount of tropical indigo imported into Europe. Asian indigo arrived through ports in Portugal, the Netherlands, and England. | |
Not all of Europe was thrilled with the newly abundant supply of tropical indigo. In England the use of imported indigo was prohibited by law from 1558 to 1685. While in France and Germany importation of indigo was outlawed in 1598, these prohibitions reflect the wealth and power of the woad dye industry, an industry that eventually failed due to the import of tropical indigo. | |
Because indigo was so valuable, many European powers established indigo plantations in their tropical colonies. Indigofera tinctora plants were imported from India to other tropical or sub-tropical destinations. British interests saw Indigo become a major crop in Jamaica and South Carolina. France owned the indigo plantations of Saint Domingo and Spain imported indigo dye from its colonies in South America, were they established plantations using an indigenous Indigofera species. | |
The worldwide cultivation of indigo went into decline with the advent of synthetic 'anilline dyes and further sharp decline in 1897 when synthetic indigo reached the market. | |
The preparation of natural indigo is carried out as follows: the plant is cut down, steeped in vats for about 12 hours, and the extract, which is of a greenish colour, is separated and run into fresh vats. Then it is stirred vigorously so as to bring it into contact with atmospheric oxygen. Insoluble indigo is precipitated as a blue mud, which is collected, pressed, dried, and cut into cubes. | |
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