Annato Extract

Annatto has been used since the ancient times. The color represented fire, sun and blood in early American Indian civilizations. The color was used for food, dying clothes, and coloring the body during ceremonies. It is said to have medicinal properties.

Annatto is yellow, natural food colorant obtained from the seeds of the Bixa Orella tree. The pigments that produce this yellow to orange color range are the carotenoids, bixin and norbixin. The concentration of the color is expressed as a percentage of these compounds and the content varies with the extraction method. pH, emulsifiers and overall solubility affect the hue. Oil soluble Annattos have a brighter hue.

Processing
Fruits are dried and seeds extracted from them are crushed. The seeds have a coating of an oily paste that contains bixin. Bixin is a yellow orange carotenoid. It is extracted using aqueous alkaline solution and vegetable oil solvent.