Irma Podolak
Modern medicine, Volume 29 (2023) Issue 1, 2023, pp. 35 - 72
https://doi.org/10.4467/12311960MN.23.003.18444Until the development of organic chemistry and the production of synthetic dyes in the second half of the 19th century, substances of natural origin were the only source of color compounds. These could be mineral, plant, and animal products, used in the form of raw products (e.g., crushed metals, minerals, animal fragments, or their excretions) and preparations derived from them. Among the plants we find many species that have been used as sources of coloring substances. They were valued primarily in the production of various utility or decorative fabrics and were used to dye natural fibers. Plant extracts or purified fractions of color compounds were also used as pigments in painting, in the illumination of books, and as substances that improve the look of medicines or foodstuffs. Some had medicinal significance per se. Among them, a small group of plant substances with a blue color is of special interest.
The most famous natural raw material of this group is indigo (Indigo), obtained from Indigofera tinctoria L. and its substitutes. Noteworthy is also the less known wood of the logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum L.), known as the blue tree. This work presents the history, uses, and therapeutic importance of the abovementioned raw materials and their contemporary use.