The secret of ancient Roman emperor's cloak

More than 500 years after the secret was lost, a British scientist claimed to have rediscovered the way the ancient Romans created the powerful purple color - the characteristic color of the emperor's cloak, also the color of the sail on Cleopatra's boat.

Purple is one of the oldest human dyes. Derived from murex oysters, it became the color symbolizing the power of Roman emperors after Nero. However, the secret to this color has been lost since 1453.

John Edmonds, a retired engineer, found this secret when studying the fermentation process of indigo dye in cedar. " I think the purple dye emperor has the same fermentation process as indigo ," Edmonds said. He experimented by using small oysters with close relatives with murex oysters and fermenting purple dye in a jar of wood ash mixed. These oysters contain important bacteria in dye reduction. The mixture is kept at 50 ° C for 10 days. The wool embedded in the dye turns light green, but when exposed to light it turns into purple.

Reproducing traditional staining methods has an important application in today's operation. There are tons of chemicals used to remove dyes for jeans that emit large amounts of sulfur. Using bacteria to replace chemicals can help develop a clean dyeing technology in the future.

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