Dactylopius coccus

Cochineal Extract. Cochineal extract (Cl Natural Red 4, Cl No. 75470 EEC No. E 120) is the concentrated solution obtained after removing the alcohol from an aqueous-alcohoHc extract of cochineal, which is the dried bodies of the female insect Coccus cacti Dactylopius coccus costd) a variety of field louse. The coloring principle of the extract is beHeved to be carminic acid [1260-17-9] (40), an hydroxyanthraquinone linked to a glucose unit, comprising approximately 10% of cochineal and 2—4% of its extract. 

Carmine is a colored pigment extracted from the female insect Coccus cacti or Dactylopius coccus, or its eggs. These insects live on prickly pear cactus in Mexico. The Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes brought the dye to Europe after seeing the Aztecs use it. 

D-glucitol. See sorbitol D-mannitol. See mannitol Dactylopius coccus, 111... 

To extract and evalnate the color pigments from cochineals Dactylopius coccus Costa), a simple method was developed. The procednre is based on the solvent extraction of insect samples nsing methanol and water (65 35, v/v) and a two-level factorial design to optimize the solvent extraction parameters temperature, time, methanol concentration in mixtnre, and yield. For hydrophilic colorants that are more sensitive to temperatnre, water is the solvent of choice. For example, de-aerated water extraction at low temperatnre was applied to separate yellow saffrole and carthamine from saffron (Carthamus tinctorius) florets that contain about 1% yellow saffrole and 0.3% red carthamine. ... 

Gonzalez, M. et al.. Optimizing conditions for the extraction of pigments in cochineals Dactylopius coccus Costa) using response surface methodology, J. Agric. Food Chem., 50, 6968, 2002. 

Cochineal extract is obtained from the bodies of the female cochineal insects, particularly Dactylopius coccus Costa, by treating the dried bodies with ethanol. After removal of the solvent, the dried residue contains about 2-4% carminic acid, the main colored component. The cochineal insects grow on cactus and,... 

Dactylopius coccus insects, now bred in Peru and the Canary Islands, produce carmine, as the actual colorant is called, for the food and cosmetics industries. It is used in a wide range of items, from lipstick to maraschino cherries. Cochineal is also... 

The structure of kermisic acid is l,3,4,5-tetrahydroxy-7-carboxy-8-mcrhylanthraquinone. Carminic acid (Cl Natural Red 4 Cl 75470). is a red dye occurring as a glycoside in the body of the cochineal insect Dactylopius coccus of the order Homoptera. family Coecidae, Until the advent of synthetic dyes, the principal use for carminic acid was for dyeing tin-mordanted wool or silk. Its aluminum lake, carmine, finds use in Lhe coloring of foods. The structural formula of carminic acid is (2). 

The red insect dyes from Dactylopius coccus COSTA (American cochineal), Kermococcus vermilio PLANCHON (kermes), and Kerria lacca KERR (lac dye) can also be readily distinguished by thin-layer chromatographic comparison. 

Dactylopius coccus COSTA, which produces American cochineal Kermococcus vermilio PLANCHON, which produces kermes ... 

Dactylopius coccus COSTA (Coccus cacti L.) (Coccidae)... 

Between the years 1400 and 1890 the reds that artists used were extracted from plants, such as madder, or from crushed insects, such as the scale insect Dactylopius coccus, or were of mineral origin, such as cinnabar (mercury sulfide, HgS) which could be ground to a powder to produce the pigment vermilion which was much used in antiquity, or red iron oxide (Fe203) which was used by the Neolithic cave painters, or minium (red lead, Pb304). 

The story of cochineal is beautifully told by Amy Butler Greenfield in her book A Perfect Red, published in 2005. Cochineal was the dye which the Aztecs had discovered, and it is produced by the scale insect Dactylopius coccus that feeds only on the prickly pear cactus. The red molecule of cochineal is carminic acid881 and it constitutes 10% of their... 

Carmine occurs as bright red, friable pieces or as a dark red powder. It is the aluminum or the calcium-aluminum lake, on an aluminum hydroxide substrate, of the coloring principles obtained by an aqueous extraction of cochineal. Cochineal consists of the dried female insects Dactylopius coccus costa (Coccus cacti L.), enclosing young larvae the coloring principles thus derived consist mainly of carminic acid (C22H20O13). It is soluble in alkali solutions, slightly soluble in hot water, and practically insoluble in cold water and in dilute acids. 

Cochineal is a traditional natural colour made from a Mexican beetle, Dactylopius coccus. The only problems with cochineal, apart from expense, are that it is not kosher and it is not animal-free. (Cochineal is not kosher, not because it is made from an insect but because the insect is itself not kosher.)... 

Carmine is the most stable, natural red, water-soluble pigment. It is extracted from the insect Dactylopius coccus costa and for this reason is available only as a colorant. The beverage industry uses special acid-stable qualities that achieve colour hues ranging from orange to red-violet, depending on the production method used. 

Cochineal (E 120) is the red coloring matter extracted from the dried bodies of female insects of the species Dactylopius coccus Costa or Coccus cacti L. These insects are cultivated on the cactus plants in Peru, Equador, Guatamala, and Mexico. 

Both carmine and cochineal extract are made from the dried female insect, Dactylopius coccus costa, commonly known as cochineal. The cochineal live on specific cacti and the main prodnction is in Pern, bnt cochineal are also produced in Chile, Bolivia and the Canary Islands. There are nsnally two harvests per year, where the cochineal are removed mannally with snitable tools from leaves of the cacti. Following harvest the insects are snn dried before further processing. The cochineal insects are extracted nsing an aqueous alkaline solution. The resnlting cochineal extract can either be formulated to different cochineal products in powder or liquid form or further processed to carmine. Cochineal products are water-soluble and orange in low pH applications. The colour intensity is relatively low. 

Carminic acid (Cochineal) Dactylopius coccus Costa N Semi-S E 120... 

Cochineal extract (Colour Index 75470, E 120)is the final alcohol-free material obtained after aqueous ethanolic extraction of the dried bodies of the female scale insect Dactylopius coccus Costa which lives on cacti such as Opuntia or Nopalea coccinellifera a species indigenous to Peru and Mexico, although also found in the Canary Islands. In practice a simpler procedure consists of aqueous alkaline extraction. The colourant principle is carminic acid which is more well-known in the form of carmine, an aluminium chelate of carminic acid, a material insoluble in water and stable on the acidic side. A uv spectrophotometric study has been made (ref. 21). Thin layer chromatography of cochineal has been examined on acetylated cellulose with the solvent system, ethyl acetate-tetrahydrofuran-water (6 35 47) in which the Rf was 0.94 (refs.22,23). The history of the chemistry of cochineal has been discussed (ref.24). 

It all comes down to the fascinating little insect called dactylopius coccus. 

Cochineal. Dye mixture from the dried, female scale insect (Dactylopius coccus, Coccidae, Homoptera). From 1 kg of the insect ca. 50 g C. are obtained in the form of bright red lumps which can be ground partly soluble in hot water, readily soluble in alkaline solution. The main components are carminic acid and its shining red mordants with Al and Ca. 

With the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, dyeing with cochineal came to Europe in 1530 (Fig. 2.20). The dyestuff was obtained from the American cochineal scale insect Dactylopius coccus Costa), which had already been bred in a big way by the Aztecs on cactus plants (Opuntia monacantha, Opuntia vulgaris and Nopalea cochenillifera). Due to the higher yield of dyestuff, cochineal displaced kermes almost completely. In the heyday of cochineal production, around 1870, the Canary Islands annually exported 3,000 tonnes of cochineal (Fig. 2.21). 

---