UF/IFAS Indigo Field Trials Yield Success As Synthetic Dyes Lose Appeal

Synthetic dyes are taking a back seat as consumers and manufacturers are driving increased demand for natural dyes with agriculture at the wheel.

Scientists at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) completed a series of field trials sponsored by Tennessee-based company Stony Creek Colors that took two years. Their tests could make growing the indigo plant – which produces the iconic natural blue dye — a profitable and environmentally sound crop in the Sunshine State.

The field trials tested the viability of growing the ancient indigo species in South Florida. The results give interested growers and manufacturers of natural dyes new hope as a revival for the demand of natural indigo dyes resurface at a global scale.

Wagner Vendrame, a UF professor and assistant department chair of environmental horticulture, led field trials at the UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center that concluded in December 2020.