Natural dye plants in Savastepe (Balikesir, Turkey)

Abstract

Natural dyes are recently becoming object of consumer interests because of the harmful effects of the synthetic dyes. The dyeing with natural colourants was one of the oldest techniques practiced by the ancient civilization people. An ethnobotanical study was conducted between 2012 and 2015 in order to determine wild plants used in Savastepe. Savastepe is a town and district of Balikesir Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. With this study, we aimed to document traditional uses of dye plants in Savastepe (Balikesir). According to the results of the identification, 15 species belonging to 12 families were used as dye source. Used parts of plants were flowers, fruits, leaves, roots, seeds and galls.