Use of Rosa Canina Extractions for Ecofriendly Textile Finishing

Phenolic components, flavonoids, tannins and vitamins (A, C, E) in the content of Rosa Canina fruits provide antimicrobial and antioxidant activity and they already have many uses such as food and medicine industry. Despite the fact that Rosa Canina extracts contain many beneficial and active components, they have not been yet studied as finishing agents for textiles. This paper represents the investigation of potential use of these extractions as natural functional agents for fabrics. Firstly, Rosa Canina extractions were prepared using different solvents (distilled water, ethanol and methanol) by ultrasound-assisted extraction. Pre-treatment process with chitosan was carried out via pad-dry-cure method using cotton fabrics. Then, these extractions were applied to undyed and pre-treated cotton fabrics via exhaustion method. Extractions and waste solutions of textile finishing process were examined by Ultraviolet–visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. In addition, the chemical structure of the undyed and treated fabrics was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Finally, treated fabrics were examined in terms of UV protection properties by UPF measurements. UV-Vis results showed that maximum amount of active compounds was observed on Rosa Canina extraction with water. According to UPF values, pre-treatment with chitosan definitely have a positive effect on UV protection of cotton fabrics and Rosa Canina extract treatments lead also an extra increase on UPF values of cotton fabrics. Among all treated fabrics in the study, chitosan-Rosa Canina water treated fabrics showed the highest UPF value.