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Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Synthesis of Plant Phenol-derived Polymeric Dyes for Direct or Mordant-based Hair Dyeing
Published on: December 1, 2016
An alkaline bacterial laccase for polymerization of natural precursors for hair dye synthesis
Deepak Kumar1, Aditya Kumar1, Sonica Sondhi1
1Department of Microbiology, BMS Block 1, South Campus, Panjab University, Sector 25, Chandigarh, India.
Abstract:
In the present study, an extracellular alkali stable laccase (Lac DS) from Bacillus subtilis DS which has pH optima at 8.5 using p-phenylenediamine (PPD) as substrate has been reported. Lac DS retained 70% activity for 4 h at pH 8.5 and 90% activity for 24 h at 55 °C. The enzyme yield was enhanced by optimization of fermentation conditions. A 746-fold increase in yield was observed under optimized conditions using 150 µM MgSO4, 1.2% yeast extract, 0.35% tryptone, and 150 µM vanillic acid. Lac DS was used to polymerize natural dye precursor catechol, pyrogallol, syringaldehyde, syringic acid, ferulic acid and gallic acid to develop a range of natural hair colors such as black, golden yellow, and reddish brown. The results indicate that alkaline Lac DS is a suitable candidate to develop a user-friendly and commercially applicable hair dyeing process in the area of cosmetic industry.
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