DAVAO CITY-Local plants and marine organisms are offering new sources of color for art materials, as researchers in the southeasternmost side of Mindanao develop a process to turn natural pigments into powdered colorants for visual artists.
Under the project titled ‘Development of Dye as Art Medium Generated from Natural Assets’ (D-Dagta), project exhibitor Eliza Dave Bakiao said the initiative was developed to initially serve Mati City’s community of visual and aspiring artists, while providing an alternative to synthetic dyes that may contain hazardous chemicals, including lead, chromium, cadmium and mercury.
‘This serves as an alternative to synthetic dyes because of the reported volatile organic compounds and harmful chemicals that could pose health risks and even environmental risks,’ Bakiao told the BusinessMirror in a sideline interview during the 2026 Handa Pilipinas Mindanao Leg in this city.
The team calls the resulting materials ‘biocolorants’ because they come from natural sources.
These include annatto for orange, cuttlefish ink for black, sea hare for purple, coconut for white, butterfly pea flowers for blue, four o’clock flowers (Mirabilis jalapa) for red, and turmeric for yellow.
To produce the powdered colorants, the researchers suspend the extracts in distilled water and add maltodextrin, an encapsulating agent that protects the pigments from external conditions.
The mixture is then fed into a spray dryer, which converts the liquid formulation into powder by rapidly removing its moisture. Inside the machine, the liquid is dispersed into tiny droplets and exposed to a stream of hot air. The water evaporates quickly, leaving behind fine particles containing the colorant and maltodextrin.
‘One of the concerns with natural dyes is that they fade easily over time and are more prone to microbial growth. And so, our process uses spray drying,’ Bakiao said.
The Department of Science and Technology’s National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP) funded the spray dryer used in the project, which began this year.
Although research is still ongoing, preliminary observations have shown no discoloration or microbial growth in the powdered colorants during an initial monitoring period of about one month, Bakiao said.
She cautioned, however, that the observation period remains limited.
The researchers still need to conduct dermal irritation tests to determine whether the colorants are safe for artists who may come into contact with them.
Bakiao said these assessments are necessary before the materials can be considered for commercial use.
The research team includes Wilanfranco C. Tayone, RCh, PhD; Janeth C. Tayone, RCh, PhD; Gorjel E. Llanita, PhD; Marvin L. Tiberio; and Hayma T. Usman, with Dr. Jonel P. Saludes serving as consultant.
Coloring art, supporting farmers
Local artist Marvin Tiberio, an advocate of natural pigments, said he was satisfied with the initial results of the colorants based on his own experience using them, although he acknowledged that further refinements are needed before they can be made commercially available.
Tiberio said the initiative could help address the limited access to commercially available art materials among artists in Mati City, where skilled practitioners may lack the resources to pursue their craft.
He also sees potential benefits for local farmers if demand for the plants used in producing the colorants increases.
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‘If there is a demand for these plants, they will plant more because there is a demand,’ he said, pointing to the possibility of creating additional market opportunities for farmers growing plants that produce yellow, red and other pigments.