Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I'm trying to dye a silkworm's food, to change its cacoon color thereby making colored silk. From doing some research on the web, I'm come to conclude that hydrophobicity of the dye plays a role in how the cacoon will be stained. The more hydrophobic the better. I'm trying to find a hydrophobic blue dye, but I can't find any. Any suggestions?

Hi spidey65,

Hydrophobic dyes are not soluble in water but will dissolve in another solvent. One example of a water-insoluble dye is Indigo.

A list of other dyes is available here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dyes

And you may find these references of interest:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5452102/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK385442/

I hope this helps. Please ask again if you have more questions.

A. Norman