Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the
cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson
lake, or carmine lake is a
pigment of a bright-
red color obtained from the aluminium
complex derived from
carminic acid
Carminic acid (C22H20O13) is a red glucosidal hydroxyanthrapurin that occurs naturally in some scale insects, such as the cochineal, Armenian cochineal, and Polish cochineal. The insects produce the acid as a deterrent to predators. An aluminu ...
.
Specific code names for the pigment include natural red 4,
C.I. 75470, or
E120 E120 most often refers to:
* Carmine, a food colourant with the E number E120
* Unbinilium, also known as element 120 or eka-radium, a predicted chemical element not yet observed
It may also refer to:
* E120 bomblet, a U.S. Cold War biological clu ...
. ''Carmine'' is also a general term for a particularly
deep-red color.
Etymology
The English word "carmine" is derived from the French word ''carmin'' (12th century), from
Medieval Latin ''carminium'', from
Persian ''qirmiz'' ("crimson"), which itself derives from
Middle Persian ''carmir'' ("red, crimson").
The Persian term ''carmir'' is likely cognate with
Sanskrit ''krimiga'' ("insect-produced"), from ''krmi'' ("worm, insect"). The Persian word for "worm, insect" is ''kirm'', and in
Iran (
Persia) the red colorant carmine was extracted from the bodies of dead female insects such as ''
Kermes vermilio'' and
cochineal. The form of the term may also have been influenced in Latin by ''minium'' ("red lead,
cinnabar"), said to be of Iberian origin. The word "carmine" has been used as a color name as early as 1799. It is a popular food color, used in
yogurt,
candy
Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English
Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...
,
gelatin
Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...
,
meat
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
, and beverages including fruit juices.
Production
The pigment is produced from
carminic acid
Carminic acid (C22H20O13) is a red glucosidal hydroxyanthrapurin that occurs naturally in some scale insects, such as the cochineal, Armenian cochineal, and Polish cochineal. The insects produce the acid as a deterrent to predators. An aluminu ...
, which is extracted from some
scale insect
Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the ...
s such as the
cochineal scale (''Dactylopius coccus''), and certain ''
Porphyrophora
The scale insect genus ''Porphyrophora'' is a large group in the family Margarodidae, which includes the insects Polish cochineal and Armenian cochineal formerly used in dye
A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substra ...
'' species (
Armenian cochineal
The Armenian cochineal (''Porphyrophora hamelii''), also known as the Ararat cochineal or Ararat scale, is a scale insect indigenous to the Ararat plain and Aras (Araks) River valley in the Armenian Highlands and in Turkey. It was formerly u ...
and
Polish cochineal). Carmine is a colorant used in the manufacture of artificial flowers, paints,
crimson
Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple.
It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, ''Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colo ...
ink, rouge and other cosmetics, and some medications.
To prepare carmine, the powdered scale insect bodies are boiled in an
ammonia or
sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...
solution. After separating the insoluble matter, the extract is treated with
alum
An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , where is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium or a ...
to precipitate the red solid. This precipitate is called "carmine lake" or "crimson lake". Purity of color is ensured by the absence of
iron.
Stannous chloride,
citric acid,
borax, or
gelatin
Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...
may be added to modify the precipitation. The traditional crimson color is affected not only by carminic acid but also by choice of its chelating metal salt ion. For
shades of purple,
lime is added to the alum.
File:Cochinel Zapotec nests.jpg, Zapotec nests on '' Opuntia ficus-indica'' host cacti
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
File:Pseudorhabdosynochus morrhua.jpg, upUse of carmine as a staining
Staining is a technique used to enhance contrast in samples, generally at the microscopic level. Stains and dyes are frequently used in histology (microscopic study of biological tissues), in cytology (microscopic study of cells), and in the ...
agent in histology (here on a flatworm
The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegment ...
)
Properties and uses
As confirmed by
reflectance spectroscopy, carmine reflects mostly red light, i.e., wavelengths longer than about 603
nm.
Carmine can be used in
histology, as ''Best's carmine'' to stain
glycogen
Glycogen is a multibranched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals, fungi, and bacteria. The polysaccharide structure represents the main storage form of glucose in the body.
Glycogen functions as one o ...
, ''mucicarmine'' to stain acidic
mucopolysaccharides, and ''carmalum'' to stain
cell nuclei. In these applications, it is applied together with a
mordant, usually an
Al(III) salt.
Carmine was used in dyeing textiles and in painting since antiquity. It is not very stable in oil paint, and its use ceased after new and better red pigments became available.
Jacopo Tintoretto used carmine in several of his paintings, including ''Portrait of Vincenzo Morosini'' and ''Christ Washing the Feet of the Disciples''.
Regulations for use in foods
United States
In January 2006, the
United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) evaluated a proposal that would require food products containing carmine to list it by name on the ingredient label. It was also announced that the FDA will separately review the ingredient labels of prescription drugs that contain colorings derived from carmine. A request from the
Center for Science in the Public Interest urging the FDA to require ingredient labels to explicitly state that carmine is derived from insects and may cause severe allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock was declined by the FDA. Food industries were aggressively opposed to the idea of writing "insect-based" on the label, and the FDA agreed to allow "cochineal extract" or "carmine".
European Union
In the
European Union (EU), the use of carmine in foods is regulated under the
European Commission's directives governing food additives in general and food dyes in particular and listed under the names ''Cochineal'', ''Carminic acid'', ''Carmines'' and ''Natural Red 4'' as additive E 120 in the
list of EU-approved food additives. The directive governing food dyes approves the use of carmine for certain groups of foods only and specifies a maximum amount which is permitted or restricts it to the
quantum satis
Quantum satis (abbreviation q.s. or Q.S.) is a Latin term meaning the amount which is enough. It has its origins as a quantity specification in medicine and pharmacology, where a similar term ''quantum sufficit'' ("as much as is sufficient") has b ...
.
The EU-Directive 2000/13/EC
on food labeling mandates that carmines (like all food additives) must be included in the list of ingredients of a food product with its additive category and listed name or additive number, that is either as ''Food colour carmines'' or as ''Food colour E 120'' in the local language(s) of the market(s) the product is sold in.
, EFSA has changed the way they allow use of Carmine E120 for pharmaceutical products. The EFSA had raised concerns over the increasing number of allergic reactions to carmine derived from insects (E120.360), when used within the ''
British Pharmacopoeia''. Pharmaceutical products which had previously contained insect-derived carmine, have been replaced with a synthesized version of the food colorant. Internal studies have shown that the new formulations of popular anti-nausea and weight-gain liquid medication had a significantly lower risk in terms of allergic reactions. The new formulation is known to be of plant origin, using
calcium oxide to gauge color depth.
References
; Attribution
*
See also
*
Red pigments
Red pigments are materials, usually made from minerals, used to create the red colors in painting and other arts. The color of red and other pigments is determined by the way it absorbs certain parts of the spectrum of visible light and reflects ...
Further reading
*
*
External links
Carmine as pigment in painting at ColourLex
{{Authority control
Animal dyes
Food colorings
Insect products
Biological pigments
Organic pigments
Staining dyes
Polyketides