Development of durable antibacterial agent from ban-ajwain seed (Thymus serpyllum) for cotton fabric.

Methanolic extract of ajwain seeds (wild celery seed) has been analyzed by GC-MS to establish its chemical constituents. The extract is found to have good antibacterial property to selected micro-organisms and hence has been applied on cotton fabric to impart antimicrobial property and to evaluate its wash durability. It is found that the treated fabric shows good antibacterial property to both Gram positive and Gram negative organisms, but has poor wash durability. Hence, to fix the herbal extract on cotton fabric different techniques, like microencapsulation, cross-linking and a combination of both, have been employed. It is observed that herbal extract encapsulated with acacia gum is durable up to 15 normal wash cycles. Herbal extract cross-linked with a resin is found to be durable up to 10 washes. In both the cases, fabric lost one of the physical properties like crease recovery angle or tensile strength. However, a combined technique shows that treated fabrics are durable up to 15 washes without compromising physical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]