• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.412-421
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• 2012

The yerba mate that grows in the subtropical forests of South America is an evergreen tree within the Aquifoliaceae family. The yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) tea is habitually used as a drink in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Southern Brazil. A wild mate tree needs about 25 years to fully grow to 15 a height of meters; however, they only grow to a height of 3-5 meters when cultivated. The leaves are 7-11 cm long and 3-5cm wide with a serrated margin. Yerba mate tea-based beverages are made from the leaves and stems of the mate tree. It is known that they contain a rich content of antioxidants and polyphenol, vitamins, amino acids, minerals and colorants. Dyeing properties of a mate plant in the silk, wool, linen and cotton fabrics were investigated. Constituents of colorant of mate tea are chlorophyll and carotinoid; in addition, it has more minerals such as (Fe, Ca, Mn, Mg, Na, K, Zn, and Cu) than green tea. Mate tea colorants showed good affinity to silk and wool fabrics. It was found that the optimum condition for dyeing was 30 minutes for dyeing time, 7 for pH of dyebath, and at a dyeing temperature of $80^{\circ}C$. The maximum absorbance wavelength (${\lambda}_{max}$) of silk and wool fabrics dyed with mate tea were at 420-440nm; however, that of linen and cotton fabrics were at 400nm. K/S values of fabrics dyed under optimum conditions were 1.979 for silk fabrics, 1.541 for wool fabrics, 0.551 for linens and 0.465 for cotton fabrics. Munsell hue values of dyed fabrics measured 3.1Y-6.4GY for silk, 1.4Y-8.3Y for wool, 5.5Y-3.7GY for linen, and 5.3Y-1.3GY for cotton. All dyed fabrics showed hues in-between greenish yellow and greenyellow. Colorfastness to rubbing, perspiration and dry-cleaning of dyed fabrics with mate tea were very good; however, the grades of colorfastness to washing of dyed linen and cotton fabrics were poor, and colorfastness to light were poor.