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Orange peel fabric: determining its environmental and health benefits and exploring its potential for functional applications
Summary
Scientists turned orange peel waste (a byproduct of juice production) into fabric and found it performs just as well as eco-friendly lyocell fabric—it's breathable, comfortable, and biodegradable, meaning it won't linger in landfills or shed harmful microplastics like synthetic fabrics do. When treated with orange extract, the fabric also gained antioxidant properties and mild germ-fighting abilities without irritating skin cells, suggesting future clothing could be both sustainable and gentle on your skin.
The fashion and textile industries have been in the spotlight for using fibre types that harm the environment due to high water usage, energy consumption, microplastic release, fibre shedding, and solid waste accumulation in landfills. This study investigated orange peel fabric, obtained from the valorisation of orange waste, as a sustainable textile material for functional applications by evaluating its functional features, health benefits, and environmental sustainability. Orange peel fabric and a comparative lyocell fabric were treated with Citrus sinensis extract and analysed using different experiments. GC-MS analysis of the extract confirmed the presence of bioactive compounds. The surface morphology and elemental characterisation of the fabric were analysed using SEM and EDX. Functional and comfort properties of the untreated and extract-treated fabrics were evaluated using the moisture vapour transmission rate, moisture management, tensile strength, and water vapour permeability tests (Permetest). To assess the health benefits of the fabric, the antioxidant (DPPH assay), antibacterial (disc assay and time-kill assay) and cytotoxicity tests using HepG2 cells were performed. The results confirmed that orange peel fabric demonstrated good moisture management, good permeability, acceptable mechanical performance, good antioxidant activity, excellent biocompatibility, and high biodegradability, with performance comparable to or exceeding lyocell fabric. Extract treatment enhanced the antioxidant activity and biodegradability of the fabrics while imparting limited antibacterial activity without inducing cytotoxicity. Overall, orange peel fabric demonstrated strong potential as a sustainable material, with and without extract treatment, in functional applications.