Madder

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Madder
Madder madder (Rubia tinctorum)

Madder madder ( Rubia tinctorum )

Systematics
Euasterids I
Order : Enzianartige (Gentianales)
Family : Red family (Rubiaceae)
Subfamily : Rubioideae
Genre : Reddening ( rubia )
Type : Madder
Scientific name
Rubia tinctorum
L.

The madder ( Rubia tinctorum , Latin for "redness of Dyer's"), and True madder , madder called, is a species of the genus Rubia ( Rubia ) within the family of the redness plants (Rubiaceae). This crop is a traditional coloring plant . The Romans gave the madder the name "Rubia" (the scientific generic name to this day) because its roots contain red pigment.

description

illustration
Inflorescence with five-fold flowers

Vegetative characteristics

The madder grows as a deciduous, perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 0.5 to 1 meters. This rosette-free hemicryptophyte forms a red rhizome as a permanent organ. There are backward-facing hairs ( trichomes ) on the edges of the stem and on the leaves , which makes the plant feel rough to the touch in these areas. The sharp four-sided stems is spreizklimmend . The four to sixth leaves are arranged in whorls on the stem and have short stalks. The simple leaf blade is ovoid-elliptical to ovoid-lanceolate with a length of 3 to 11 and a width of 0.8 to 2.5 centimeters and has a network vein on the underside.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from June to August. The small, star-shaped flowers are hermaphroditic, radial symmetry and five-fold. The yellowish-green crown has a diameter of 2 to 3 millimeters and is funnel-shaped. The anthers are much longer than they are wide. The stylus are in two parts right down to the bottom. The stone fruit-like fissure fruits are reddish at first and turn almost black over time.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 66.

Occurrence

The natural distribution area of ​​madder includes the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East . In Central and Western Europe the madder has feral from culture. In Germany the madder is rarely found in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony, in Saxony-Anhalt it is considered extinct.

The habitat of this warmth-loving plant species are fields, vineyards, rubble sites and roadsides.

Alizarin precursor

ingredients

Main ingredients of the dyer madder are di- and trihydroxyanthraquinone - glycosides , especially of the 1,2-Dihydroxyanthrachinons ( Alizarin ). The crystallizing, lemon-yellow ruberythric acid is a primveroside (glycoside of the disaccharide Primverose , alizarin-2-O-β-primverosid) and thus a precursor and storage form of the dye alizarin. The dye content of the madder root reaches about 5 to 7% in the dry matter . Madder madder also contains small amounts of rubichloric acid , citric acid and other vegetable acids , tannins , pectin substances , up to 15% total sugar, protein and some fatty oil .

use

From antiquity to the discovery of the synthetic production of alizarin, madder played a central role as a coloring plant in Central Europe and throughout the Mediterranean region. It is one of the oldest coloring agents known to man and is relatively inexpensive compared to other coloring agents that gave a red. The madder root was one of the most important cultivated plants and an important trade item between Asia and Europe. Madder was already grown in ancient times by the Egyptians , Persians, Greeks and Romans. In Pharaonic Egypt, madder can be traced from the 18th dynasty (1552–1306 BC). Pliny the Elder tells of madder cultures; it is also mentioned several times in the Holmensis papyrus and recommended , for example, for dyeing blue wool to purple. In historical times, dyeing with madder was quite demanding. The quality of the roots used fluctuated greatly and the staining result was also influenced by the outside temperature. Relatively often the color result was an orange or brick red, which the dyers could achieve more cheaply with other plants. Towards the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern era, it was mainly dyers from the Ottoman Empire and India who consistently achieved the desired shade. This also contributed to the fact that the best color result was achieved with madder on cotton. However, this material was relatively unknown in Europe at the time. The so-called “Turkish Red” was achieved with a three to four month process that comprised more than a dozen steps. Detailed knowledge of the individual work steps only became known in Europe in the 18th century.

Madder as a dye plant

For coloring, the three-year-old rhizomes were dug up in spring and autumn, dried in ovens and chopped up. When fresh, the rhizome is yellow on the inside; the red dye alizarin only develops when it dries . In addition to alizarin (six to ten percent of the dry matter), the roots contain purpurine , anthraquinone and other organic compounds. Depending on the stain and type of extraction, the color can vary between a strong red, red-orange and pink. Together with alum as a stain , wool in particular was dyed red, while iron stain produced blackish tones . As a textile color, the color is characterized by high lightfastness and wash resistance. Well-known uses are or were Turkish headgear ( Fez ) and historical uniforms. The peeled and ground root of the dye was also known as grapp in the past.

Madder

red alizarin madder

With various metal oxides or metal salts ( aluminum or tin salts ), the dyes contained form very colorful complexes, which are known as madder lakes (e.g. alizarin madder ). The synthetic type that has been manufactured since 1869 is mostly alizarin madder. Madder lacquer is traded under different names: bed top lacquer, madder carmine, madder purple, Rembrandt lacquer, Rubens red, Turkish red and Van Dyck red. Madder has been known since ancient times and was described by Dioscurides and Pliny the Elder .

Madder was used in all artistic techniques such as B. panel painting , pastel , book illumination and oil painting used. The Alizarin madder also serves as a pigment e.g. B. for the production of lightfast wallpapers , for artist paints and printing inks . The natural varnish is not completely lightfast .

Madder as a medicinal plant

The root of the madder madder was traditionally used for healing purposes. Madder was previously used as a medicinal plant because of its positive effects on diseases of the urinary tract, especially kidney and bladder stones, as well as gout , rickets and anemia . This use is now being refrained from because some ingredients are considered carcinogenic. The approvals of drugs containing madder roots were accordingly revoked on March 15, 1993 by the Federal Health Office .

Cultivation

History of cultivation in Central Europe and the Orient

French soldier with trousers dyed with madder

The Benedictine it was probably that brought the plant across the Alps, and Charlemagne strongly recommended their culture. Important growing areas in the Middle Ages were in Dutch Zeeland (since the 12th century), on the Upper Rhine ( Alsace , since the 13th century). In the Middle Ages, Speyer was known for the red dye (Speyer red), which was obtained from madder. This was grown on a larger scale around the city. There were smaller growing areas around Braunschweig, in France (Provence), Spain (Castile) and Hungary. The Alsatian madder, the "Hagenauer Röte", was famous far and wide and was exported in significant quantities. In the Middle Ages it contributed to the wealth of the free imperial city of Strasbourg . There were also large cultivation areas in France , especially around the town of Senlis near Paris . In the 15th century Holland took the leading position in madder cultivation, in the following centuries the French outstripped it through intensive cultivation in southern France and Alsace. When madder cultivation here came to a standstill due to the turmoil of the revolution after 1789, Louis-Philippe (1830–1848) ordered that the French soldiers wear red trousers colored with madder. This arrangement enabled France to promote madder cultivation and regain its important position as a supplier of the dye. In 1868 Krapp came into the trade with a value of 25 million Reichsmarks. In the Netherlands the plant was one of the main export products of the island of Schouwen-Duiveland until the 19th century .

In the Orient, extremely complicated dyeing techniques using fatty oils ( Turkish red oil ) were known, with which a very intense red color could be achieved ( Turkish red dyeing ). The dye was used, among other things, to dye the traditional Turkish headgear, the fez. Madder was also used in Indian textiles since the 17th century. The red colors in Alsatian costumes were only possible with madder. Madder was also used in medieval panel painting, as its red-brown or pink colorant was not as sensitive to light as the more nuanced colorant from the expensive Brazilian wood , which was accordingly used more frequently in book illumination.

Since the dye alizarin could also be produced synthetically from coal tar in 1869 , the much more expensive madder cultivation has declined drastically. For the first time the German chemists Carl Graebe , Carl Liebermann and Heinrich Caro synthesized the madder dye. Today, madder, like other dye plants, no longer plays a role in terms of quantity or value and is only in demand in very small niches. There is hardly any commercial cultivation any more, only in the Netherlands around 50 hectares of madder is grown annually.

Cultivation today

Madder madder is grown as a perennial plant. Sowing takes place in early spring, and it is also possible to plant early plants or parts of rhizomes in spring or autumn. In the first year, weed control with a machine hoe is necessary; disease and pest infestation are usually not relevant to the yield. An infestation with Ascochyta can reduce the seed formation. The nutrient requirement is relatively high, nitrogen (approx. 120–160 kg) as well as phosphorus and potassium are required. The madder root is harvested for the first time after two to three growing seasons with the harvesting technique used for other root crops. The roots are washed, cut into pieces and dried at 40-80 ° C. The yield of dry roots is around 15-30 decitons per hectare (equivalent to 1.5 to 3 tons).

literature

  • Gerhard Orzechowski: Poisonous and medicinal plants from Central Europe . Founded by Otto Gessner. 3. Edition. Winter, Heidelberg 1974, ISBN 3-533-02372-9 .
  • Helmut Schweppe: Handbook of natural dyes. Occurrence, use, evidence . Ecomed, Landsberg am Lech 1993, ISBN 3-609-65130-X .
  • Gudrun Schneider: Dyeing with natural colors (= Ravensburger Freizeit-Taschenbücher , Volume 5). Otto Maier Verlag, Ravensburg 1979, ISBN 3-473-43005-6 .
  • Hermann Adolph Köhler , Gustav Pabst, Walther Müller, CF Schmidt: Köhler's medicinal plants in lifelike illustrations with brief explanatory texts . Franz Eugen Köhler , Gera-Untermhaus 1887; Reprint : Libri rari, Schäfer, Hannover 1997, ISBN 3-88746-376-5 .
  • Willy Herbst, Klaus Hunger: Industrial Organic Pigments. Production, properties, application. 2nd Edition. VCH, Weinheim / New York / Basel / Cambridge / Tokyo 1995, ISBN 3-527-28744-2 .
  • Christian Heinrich Wunderlich: Krapplack und Turkish red , a contribution to the chemistry and history of color lakes and stain dyes , Bonn 1993, DNB 931995213 (dissertation University of Bonn 1993, 209 pages).
  • Robert Chenciner: Madder Red. A History of Luxury and Trade: Plant Dyes and Pigments in World Commerce and Art (= Caucasus world series ). Curzo Press, Richmond 2000, ISBN 0-7007-1259-3 .
  • Gösta Sandberg: Purple, koschenill, krapp, en bok om röda textilier , Tiden, Stockholm 1994, ISBN 91-550-3945-6 Swedish .
    • Translation by Edith M. Matteson: The Red Dyes: Cocheneal, Madder and Murex Purple. A World Zour of Textile Techniques , Lark Books, Ashville, 1997, ISBN 1-88737-417-5 ( English ).

Web links

Commons : Färberkrapp ( Rubia tinctorum )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Eckehart J. Jäger, Klaus Werner (Ed.): Exkursionsflora von Deutschland . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. 10th edited edition. tape 4 : Vascular Plants: Critical Volume . Elsevier, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Munich / Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-8274-1496-2 .
  2. ↑ a b c Eckehart J. Jäger, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd K. Müller (eds.): Excursion flora from Germany . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. tape 5 : Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants . Springer, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8 .
  3. ↑ Entry on ruberythric acid. In: Römpp Online . Georg Thieme Verlag, accessed on January 7, 2013.
  4. ^ Gerhard Orzechowski: Poisonous and medicinal plants from Central Europe . Founded by Otto Gessner. 3. Edition. Winter, Heidelberg 1974, ISBN 3-533-02372-9 .
  5. ↑ a b Andrea Biertümpfel, Henryk Stolte, Barbara Wenig: Dye plants . Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V. (FNR), 2004, pp. 42-43.
  6. ^ Amy Butler Greenfield: A Perfect Red - Empire, Espionage and the Qest for the Color of Desire , HarperCollins Publisher, New York 2004, ISBN 0-06-052275-5 , p. 28.
  7. ↑ a b Barbara Wenig, Ralf Pude: Plants for industry. 4th edition. Ed. FNR e. V., Gülzow.
  8. ↑ Apothekerlexikon from 1795. , accessed on June 16, 2011.
  9. ↑ Entry in Adelung from 1793. , accessed on June 16, 2011.
  10. ↑ Velbinger, Karsten: Mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of hydroxyanthraquinones in the roots of the medicinal and dye plant Rubia tinctorum L., madder, with special consideration of drugs containing madder roots. - Leipzig: Universität, 1996 (accessed October 29, 2009).
  11. ^ History of the City of Speyer, Vol. 1, Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1982
  12. ^ Rolf-Dieter Reineke, Matthias Graf von Armansperg: paints and varnishes. Colors from dye plants. In: Norbert Schmitz et al .: Market analysis of renewable raw materials. Prepared by: meó consulting team, Fiber Institute Bremen, Institute for Energy and Environment gGmbH. Ed. FNR e. V., Gülzow.
  13. ↑ Contents (PDF; 16 kB)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.dandelon.com  
  14. ↑ The ancient Oriental dyestuff madder red was avidly sought by Europeans and finally cracked by the French in 1760, and it became the main crop in the Caspian Caucasus. The quest for Turkey Red spurred an avalanche of research that led to its chemical synthesis in 1870 and subsequently the collapse of the world-wide madder industry.