FORMULATION AND PRODUCTION OF PRINTING INK USING AFRICAN BLACK PLUM (Vitex Doniana Sweet) LEAVES

Abstract

Society is so dependent on mass communication; therefore, the techniques of printing process are very important. Printing is a technology; it expands and amplifies the human need to communicate. Inks are in huge demand despite in electronic age; hence, this study seeks to produce printing ink using black plum leaves. In this work, 1125ml of black plum was extracted from 216g of the plum leaves using 2000ml of distilled water. The pH of the extracted pigment was 2.88. Five different formulations were analyzed and printing ink was produced. Tests such as conductivity, viscosity, drying rate and pH were carried out. The produced ink quality showed a little variation when compared with commercial values. However, the results indicate that inks from formulation A having a viscosity of 4.5, with the drying rate on cardboard to be 4.5 × 10³ while its pH was 3.8 gave the best results. The results obtained from this study has shown that black plum pigments exhibit promising properties suitable for sustainable ink development.