Dactylopius coccus Cochineal

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. 

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 ... 

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.)... 

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). 

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). 

Colorants containing anthraquinone and its derivatives can be obtained from parasitic insects such as Dactylopius coccus, i.e., cochineal and Kerria lacca, i.e., lac. Alizarin can be extracted from the dried roots of the Rubia plant, and indigo can be extracted from Isatis tinctoria or Indigofera tinctoria. Some derivatives are shown in Figure 3.10. 

Carminic acid in Cochineal from insect species such as Dactylopius coccus, D. confusus Porphyrophora polonica L. and P. hamelii. 

Cochineal is a red dyestuff principally derived from various species of Coccoidea (scale insects) belonging to Dactylopiidae and Porphyrophora. These are often termed New World and Old World cochineals respectively. Of the New World species there is one domesticated insect, the Dactylopius coccus Costa (formerly Coccus cacti L.), and three wild species D. Confusus Cockerell, D. ceylonicus Green and D. opuntiae Cockrell native to Central and South America Mexico, Honduras, Peru and Argentina. 

Isol. from cochineal, obt. from the dried female bodies of the insect Dactylopius coccus. Antitumour agent. Dyestuff. Used as 0.025% soln. in cone. H2SO4 for photometric and fluorimetric detn. of B gives colour reactions with Mg, Ge, Pb, Zr, Th, Mo, U. Red cryst. Sol. H2O, EtOH si. sol. Et20. 

In examining these samples, we found evidence of indigo and a red dye in several samples, and the same red dye was found in other fibers. A search of our files of modern dyes showed this to be similar to the modem food colorant. Carmine Cl Natural Red 4, which is obtained from the cochineal insect Dactylopius cacti (formerly called Coccus cacti). Since it is believed that cochineal was known to the Precolumbian Peruvians, we made the comparison, and the curves are shown in Figure 5. Later, we found that William J. Young of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston had found cochineal in Nazca textiles (12). 

Dactylopius spp. D. coccus Costa D. confusus Dactylophidae Cochineal Carminic acid Schweppe ... 

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