Kermes

Anthraquinone [84-65-1] has yet to be found in nature, although some of its substitution products have been known since antiquity (alizarin, kermes, cochineal, and lac dye). Of all the quinones found naturally, those derived from anthraquinone far exceed all others. Many of these are found in molds (2). 

Kermisic Acid. Many accounts claim that kermisic acid [476-35-7] (Cl Natural Red 3 Cl 75460) is the oldest dyestuff ever recorded (23). The name kermes is derived from an Armenian word meaning Httle worm for which the later Latin equivalent was vermiculus, the basis of the Knglish word Vermillion. The dye was obtained from an oriental shield louse, K. ilicis which infest the holm o5kQuercus ilex and the shmb oak. coccifera. The dye produces a brilliant scarlet color with an alum mordant. Although expensive, it was cheaper than its rival Tyrian Purple. It was in great demand until the sixteenth century when it was displaced by carminic acid. 

Antimon-saure, /. antimonic acid, -saureanhy-drid, n. antimonic anhydride, antimony pent-oxide. -silber, n. antimonial silver, dyscrasite. -silberblende,/. pyrargyrite. -silberglanz, m. stephanite. -spiegel, m. antimony mirror, -sulfid, n. antimony sulfide, specif, antimony pentasulfide, antimony(V) sulfide, -sulfiir, n. antimony trisulfide, antimony(III) sulfide, -yerblndung,/. antimony compound, -wasser--stoff, m. antimony hydride, stibine. -weiss, n. antimony white (Sb Oa). -zinnober, m. kermes mineral. 

Karmesinbeeren, /.pi. kermea berries, kermes. karmesin-farblg, a. crimson-colored. -rot a. crimson-red, crimson. 

Karst, m. mattock, hoe (Geog.) Karst, karst. Kart user-llkdr, m. chartreuse, -pulver, n. Carthusian powder (kermes mineral), -tee, m. Mexican tea (Ckenopodium ambroaioi-dea). 

Mineral-kermes, m. kermes mineral, -laugen-salz, n. Old Chem.) sodium carbonate, -mohr, m. ethiops mineral (essentially amorphous HgS). 

Scharlach, m. scarlet scarlet fever scarlet runner, -beeren,/./>/. kermes berries, kermea. scharlachen, scharlachfarben, a. scarlet. Scharlach-farbe,/. scarlet color or dye. -fieber, n. scarlet fever, scarlatina, scharlachrot, a. scarlet, bright red. Scharlach-rot, n. scarlet cochineal. -wurm, m. cochineal insect. 

SpiessglanZ kermes, m. kermesite kermes mineral, -kbnig, m. regulus of antimony, -leber,/. livex of antimony, hepar antimonii. -metall, n. antimony, -mittel, n. antimonial remedy, -mohr, m. aethiops antimonialis (old pharmaceutical preparation of mercury and antimony sulfides). -ocker, m, antimony ocher, -oxyd,n. antimon> trioxide. -safran,... 

Oaks and especially Quercus coccifera are host plants for Kermes ilicis, producing the red kermes pigment. In Asia, the Laccifer lacca insects that grow on trees like Schleichera oleosa, Ziziphus mauritiana, and Butea monsperma are the sources of the red lac dye. - ... 

Quite a variety of red dyes of both vegetable and animal origin were used in antiquity, although only a few of them ever attained practical importance. Among these were madder, of vegetable origin, probably the most widely used and in its heyday also the most important red dye, and kermes and cochineal, both derived from the bodies of insects. 

Schweppe, H. and R. Runge (1986), Carmine Cochineal carmine and kermes, in Feller, R. E. (ed.), Artists Pigments, Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, pp. 225-283. 

Organic dyes Cochineal, madder, kermes, saffron, purple, indigo, synthethic dyes Colourants for dyeing textiles, paint materials... 

C. Lalli, G. Lantema, II campionamento e il prelievo fasi critiche per la corretta impostazione di una campagna analitica, Kermes, 16, 3 11 (1993). 

It has been recognised for centuries that certain natural dyes, including alizarin, kermes, cochineal and fustic, now known to contain o-dihydroxy phenolic or anthraquinonoid residues in their structures, can be fixed on natural fibres using oxides or salts of transition metals as mordants. Although mordanted wool dyed with alizarin showed excellent fastness, reproducibility of shade was difficult to achieve because of the variable composition of the raw materials available. The famous Turkey red, in which alizarin was applied to aluminium-mordanted wool in the presence of calcium salts, formed a metallised complex the nature of which remains in considerable doubt. 

The appreciation of color and the use of colorants dates back to antiquity. The art of making colored candy is shown in paintings in Egyptian tombs as far back as 1500 bc. Pliny the Elder described the use of artificial colorants in wine in 1500 bc. Spices and condiments were colored at least 500 years ago. The use of colorants in cosmetics is better documented than colorants in foods. Archaeologists have pointed out that Egyptian women used green copper ores as eye shadow as early as 5000 bc. Henna was used to redden hair and feet, carmine to redden lips, faces were colored yellow with saffron and kohl, an arsenic compound, was used to darken eyebrows. More recently, in Britain, in the twelfth century, sugar was colored red with kermes and madder and purple with Tyrian purple. 

Carmine belongs to the anthraquinone class of compounds and several other chemically closely related compounds are also used as colorants.25 Kermes is a well known colorant in Europe. It is obtained from the insects, Kermes ilicis or Kermococcus vermilis, which grow on oak trees. It contains kermisic acid, the aglycone of carminic acid, and its isomer ceroalbolinic acid. Its properties are very similar to carmine. Lac is a red colorant obtained from the insect Laccifera lacca which is found on several families of trees in India and Malaysia. The lac insects are better known for their production of shellac. They contain a complex mixture of anthraquinones. Alkanet is a red pigment from the roots of Alkanna tinctoria Taush and Alchusa tinctoria Lom. All three have been cleared for food use in Europe but not in the US. 

---