Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • In Your Element
  • Published:

Mad about madder

Nature Chemistry volume 14, page 966 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Tova N. Williams explores the history of madder, its components and the perhaps confusing terminology that surrounds this long-known source of red colour.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Leona, M. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 14757–14762 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. dos Santos, T. C. in Encyclopedia of Colour Science and Technology (ed. Shamey, R. S.) (Springer, 2022) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_438-1

  3. Blackburn, R. S. Color. Technol. 133, 449–462 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Ford, L., Henderson, R. L., Rayner, C. M. & Blackburn, R. S. J. Chromatogr. A 1487, 36–46 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fieser, L. F. J. Chem. Educ. 7, 2608–2633 (1930).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Yockey, O. P. et al. Chem. Res. Toxicol. 30, 2023–2032 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Freeman, H. S. et al. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 29, 24261–24268 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhu, S. et al. Color. Technol. 138, 304–314 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Jones, E. M., Cochrane, C. A. & Percival, S. L. Adv. Wound Care 4, 431–439 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Mahanty, S., Rathinasamy, K. & Suresh, D. J. Fluoresc. 32, 247–256 (2022).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Vadood, M. & Haji, A. Expert Syst. Appl. 193, 116514 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Shams-Nateri, A. J. Clean. Prod 19, 775–781 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Twitter: @chemist2dye4

Authors and Affiliations

  1. North Carolina State University, Wilson College of Textiles, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Tova N. Williams

Authors
  1. Tova N. Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tova N. Williams.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Williams, T.N. Mad about madder. Nat. Chem. 14, 966 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-022-01015-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-022-01015-x

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing