Abstract
In our previous studies, the polyamide materials, such as wool, silk, nylon 6, and tanned leather, were colored in a water solution containing reducing sugars, similar to the brownish coloration of various foods containing both protein and reducing sugars, and these coloration reactions are called Maillard reaction. Interestingly, the obtained color materials or their related materials give foods not only color but also distinctive flavor, anti-oxidative capacity, and anti-bacterial activity. In this paper, anti-bacterial properties of the polyamide fibers colored by the Maillard reaction were investigated using conventional methods of JIS L 1902. As a result, polyamide fibers reacted with xylose, one of reducing sugars, showed very strong anti-bacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, such as S. aureus, E. coli, and so on. However, a clear relationship between the color concentration of these fibers and their anti-bacterial properties was not observed.
