Nature has always dominated over synthetic or artificial, from the beginning of this world as nature was the only option for human being then, and now with advantageous characteristics of naturally derived materials over synthetics giving them priority. Color has always played an important role in the formation of different cultures of human being all over the world. It affects every moment of our lives, strongly influencing the clothes we wear, the furnishings in our homes. In the past, painters had used natural dyes extracted from plants, insects, molluscs and minerals for their paintings. The unique character of their works were the result of using different mixtures of dyes and mordants, as varnishes and lacquers responsible for cohesion of the pigments and protection of the layers destroyed by environmental effects. Natural dyes were also used in clothings, as well as in cosmetic industry (Henna, Catechu), pharmaceutical industry (Saffron, Rhubarb) and in food industry (Annatto, Curcumin and Cochineal) [1, 2]. As now public’s awareness for eco-preservation, eco-safety and health concerns, environmentally benign and non-toxic sustainability in bioresourced colorants, have created a revolution in textile research and development [3–7]. Also, environmental and aquatic preservation aspects forced Western countries to exploit their high technical skills in the advancements of textile materials for high quality, technical performances, and side by side development of cleaner production strategies for cost-effective value added textile products [8].

• However, during last few decades, ecological concerns related to the use of most of the synthetic dyes, motivated R&D scholars all over the globe to explore new Eco-friendly substitutes for minimizing their negative environmental impacts, and various aspects of bio-colorant applications (Fig. 1). Therefore, both qualitative and quantitative research investigations have been undertaken all over the world on colorants derived from cleaner bio-resources having minimal ecological negative impacts [9–13]. Consequently, strict Environmental and Ecological Legislation have been imposed by many countries including Germany, European Union, USA and India [14]. As a result, Eco-friendly non-toxic naturally occurring bio-colorants have gaining re-emergence as a subsequent alternative through green chemistry approaches with wide spread applicability to textile coloration and other biomedical aspects [15]. This review article is intended to discuss the isolated and dispersed impacts of bio-colorants derived from bio-resources, via significant aspects including, classification, extraction and dyeing, sustainability, adsorption and chemical kinetics and recent technological applications with future prospects.