Only females produce the carminic acid that is responsible for the intense red coloring.
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The bug produces a chemical called carminic acid, which combines with calcium in bones to form a dye.
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The female was dried and crushed to extract the red carminic acid, and additives of different acidity produced shades that ranged from light pink to a deep purple.
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Fresher ingredients help us steer clear of harmful preservatives (sodium nitrite, which helps meat feign a tasty color, or carminic acid, aka bug juice) that are added to our Taco Bell quesadillas.
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The chemical structure of carminic acid consists of a core anthraquinone structure linked to a glucose sugar unit. Carminic acid was first synthesized in the laboratory by organic chemists in 1991. It was previously thought that it contains α-D-glucopyranosyl residue, which was later redetermined to be the β-D-glucopyranosyl anomer.
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The colorant carmine with the main component carminic acid is used, for example, as an approved food colorant E 120.
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In the 19th century, lipstick was colored with carmine dye. Carmine dye was extracted from cochineal, scale insects native to Mexico and Central America which live on cactus plants. Cochineal insects produce carminic acid to deter predation by other insects. Carminic acid, which forms 17% to 24% of the weight of the dried insects, can be extracted from the insect's body and eggs.
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Carminic acid (C22H20O13) is a red glucosidal hydroxyanthrapurin that occurs naturally in some scale insects, such as the cochineal, Armenian cochineal, and Polish cochineal. The insects produce the acid as a deterrent to predators. An aluminum salt of carminic acid is the coloring agent in carmine, a pigment. Natives of Peru had been producing cochineal dyes for textiles since at least 700 CE. Synonyms are C.I. 75470 and C.I. Natural Red 4.
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Perennial knawel, the chief host plant of the Polish cochineal Similar to some other red dyes obtained from scale insects, the red coloring is derived from carminic acid with traces of kermesic acid. The Polish cochineal carminic acid content is approximately 0.6% of the insect's dried body weight.Handbook of Natural Colorants, year 2009, on page 7, section headed "anthraquinone reds". The insects were harvested shortly before the female larvae reached maturity, i.e.
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In general, cochineals are waxy gray insects, but the adult females turn bright red when crushed,Family:Dactylopiidae. Scale Insects. Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, ARS. due to their carminic acid content.
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Dactylopius confusus crushed The insects produce carminic acid as an antipredator adaptation. It is processed to produce the pigment carmine, which has long been used as a red food coloring and a natural dye for textiles. Dactylopius coccus, the true cochineal, is the species most commonly used today and historically, because it has a higher carminic acid content and yields a better quality pigment than its congeners. The insect has been domesticated and is reared for its product.
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Carminic acid Carmine dyes, which give crimson and related red and purple colors, are based on an aluminium and calcium salt of carminic acid. Carmine lake is an aluminium or aluminium-tin lake of cochineal extract, and crimson lake is prepared by striking down an infusion of cochineal with a 5 percent solution of alum and cream of tartar. Purple lake is prepared like carmine lake with the addition of lime to produce the deep purple tone. Carmine dyes tend to fade quickly.
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After Spanish colonization of the Americas began, cochineals were shipped worldwide as a commercial product. The dried bodies of the female insects are roughly 12 to 16% carminic acid.Reyes-Salas, O., et al. (2011). Titrimetric and polarographic determination of carminic acid and its quantification in cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) extracts.
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Retrieved 2016-02-22. The scale insect Dactylopius coccus produces the brilliant red-coloured carminic acid to deter predators. Up to 100,000 scale insects need to be collected and processed to make a kilogram (2.2 lbs) of cochineal dye. A similar number of lac bugs are needed to make a kilogram of shellac, a brush-on colourant and wood finish.
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The carminic acid can be extracted from the insect's body and eggs to make the red dye. Cochineal is used primarily as a red food colouring and for cosmetics. The cochineal dye was used by the Aztec and Maya peoples of Central and North America, and by the Inca in South America. Produced almost exclusively in Oaxaca, Mexico, by indigenous producers, cochineal became Mexico's second-most valued export after silver.
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Traditional "Zapotec nest" farming of the cochineal scale insect on O. ficus-indica, Oaxaca Dactylopius coccus is a scale insect from which cochineal dye is derived. D. coccus itself is native to tropical and subtropical South America and Mexico. This insect, a primarily sessile parasite, lives on cacti from the genus Opuntia, feeding on moisture and nutrients in the cactus sap. The insect produces carminic acid, which deters predation by other insects.
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Alizarin One of the most important anthraquinone dyes of herbal origin is alizarin, which is extracted from the dyer's madder (Rubia tinctorum). Alizarin is the eponym for a number of structurally related dyes that use alizarin dyes (sometimes synonymous with anthraquinone dyes). It was the first natural dye for which an industrial synthesis was developed as early as 1869. Anthraquinone dyes include insect dyes derived from scale insects such as carminic acid, kermesic acid and laccainic acids.
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Strong red colors for eye products have been produced using the dye carmine, made from carminic acid extracted from the crushed bodies of the cochineal insect. Carmine was once the only bright red color permitted by the FDA for use around the eye. Titanium dioxide Pearlescence, also sometimes spelled as "pearl essence", is a shine or gloss effect commonly used in a wide variety of cosmetic products. The most usual source of pearlescence is the natural mineral mica covered by a thin layer of titanium dioxide.
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Most of the river shipping moved north, southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts were often sold off in Gdańsk for lumber. Hrodna become an important site after formation of a customs post at Augustów in 1569, which became a checkpoint for merchants travelling to the Crown lands from the Grand Duchy. From Gdańsk, ships, mostly from the Netherlands and Flanders, carried the grain to ports such as Antwerp and Amsterdam. Besides grain, other seaborne exports included carminic acid from Polish cochineal, lumber and wood-related products such as ash, and tar.
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