Tinctorium Uses Bacteria To Produce Perpetual Indigo Dye.

Tinctorium, a US start-up, is trying to cope with the challenge of producing everlasting indigo dyes in the denim industry through the use of bioengineered bacteria.

The new process addresses many key problems in the synthesis of indigo dyes: first, the production of chemicals for the synthesis of indigo dyes, as well as the reduction of indigo dye for harsh processes in textiles.

"There are two problems with indigo dye," said Michelle Zhu, executive director and co founder of Tinctorium. "The first part is the Petrochemical synthetic product, which is highly dependent on petroleum and formaldehyde and many other problematic substances. The second part is indigo dye used for denim dyeing. It is not water-soluble and is not suitable for use as dye. We must add almost the same amount of chemical reductant to make use of it. "

Zhu said that there is no solution in the market to solve this two part problem.

"According to your existing chemical solution, even if you have pre reduced liquid indigo type solution, their function is far from enough, because they are essentially based on petrochemical processes. "

She explained: "on the other hand, you have plant based solutions, which come from cleaner sources, but there are many problems, such as the use of indigo dyes requiring intensive time and resource procedures, and some performance problems related to the concentration and purity of the target. "

Therefore, Tinctorium has created a biosynthetic dye solution that eliminates the need for toxic chemicals in the production process.

The company is making use of fermentation biotechnology to produce blue dyes. The process develops bacteria and produces color through programming and natural production. Bacteria are fed by sugar and grow through professional programming techniques, allowing bacteria to secrete indigo precursors and then mix with them. This combination produces a direct indigo solution, which can be directly applied to existing denim production equipment.

Tinctorium says the solution has many advantages. It not only helps to speed up the process (the whole fermentation process can be completed in less than two days), but also can be produced in a large scale, and the only restriction on the amount of dye production is the capacity of the bioreactor cylinder and how many cycles it can handle. It is also easier to purify and more sustainable.

Zhu explains: "we not only eliminate toxic chemicals in the production process, but also process them to produce the pre reduced solution directly, so we can also reduce the need for reducing agents as dyeing processes. "

Earlier this year, Tinctorium joined a biotech Accelerator Corporation in San Francisco called Indie Bio, which provided funds for the large-scale solution production of the new company.

Zhu said: "in the next few years, our plan is to produce prototypes, and then use our new dye solution to produce jeans. But this is not confined to indigo. Although this is our first step towards perfection, our solution allows us to create rainbow like colors through this technology. Our goal is far more extensive than indigo blue, and we hope to achieve a more sustainable fashion industry. "

Tinctorium plans to launch 1000 high-end capsule series of jeans, and then will launch a senior joint series, when the fashion industry to achieve cost-effective and large-scale business, will go forward to the mass market partner business.