Synthesis of bio dyes.

The colour industry’s difficult situation creates the need to find new ways of synthesising that are more environmentally friendly and economic for the production factories.
The microorganisms and enzymes studied by the SOPHIED project are capable of synthesising coloured compounds in softer production conditions.

The objective of these working groups is to investigate alternative bio synthetics to produce less polluting bio dyes.
About ten dyes that are widely used by the cosmetics (red and orange) and textile (blue, yellow, black, …) industries were selected

to study the biosynthesis, the pigmentation and their effects on the resulting products. From the second year of the SOPHIED project, these studies led to new discoveries with a very high potential for the targets being aimed for but also for a wider industrial spectrum. The molecules produced were tested by an industrial partner, Setas (a producer of dyes in Turkey), while respecting the ISO international quality standards.
Different enzymes were tested during the project’s second year and many new bio dyes have been created: yellow, red, orange, purple, blue, brown and green.