Achiote

Description

Bixa orellana, also known as achiote, is a shrub native to Central America. Bixa orellana is grown in many countries worldwide. The tree is best known as the source of annatto, a natural orange-red condiment (also called achiote or bijol) obtained from the waxy arils that cover its seeds. The ground seeds are widely used in traditional dishes in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, such as cochinita pibil, chicken in achiote, caldo de olla, and nacatamal. Annatto and its extracts are also used as an industrial food coloring to add yellow or orange color to many products such as butter, cheese, margarine, ice creams, meats, and condiments. Some of the indigenous peoples of North, Central, and South American originally used the seeds to make red body paint and lipstick, as well as a spice. For this reason, the Bixa orellana is sometimes called the lipstick tree. The species name, Bixa orellana, was given by Linnaeus after the Spanish conquistador, Francisco de Orellana, an early explorer of the Amazon River. The name achiote derives from the Nahuatl word for the shrub, āchiotl. It may also be referred to as aploppas, or by its original Tupi name uruku, urucu or urucum ("red color"), which is also used for the body paint prepared from its seeds Bixa orellana is a perennial, tall shrub that can reach 6–10 m (20–33 ft) high. It bears clusters of 5 cm (2 in) bright white or pink flowers, resembling single wild roses, that appear at the tips of the branches. The fruits of the Bixa orellana are globular, ovoid capsules arranged in clusters resembling spiky looking red-brown seed pods covered in soft spines. Each capsule, or pod, contains 30–45 cone-shaped seeds covered in a thin waxy blood-red aril. When fully mature, the pod dries, hardens, and splits open, exposing the seeds. The shrub is most well known as the source of the red-orange annatto pigment. The pigment is derived from the pericarp (the waxy aril layer that covers the seeds) of the Bixa orellana fruit. The red-orange annatto dye is rich in the carotenoid pigments, 80% which consists of bixin (the red pigment) and norbixin or orelline (the yellow pigment).