XIII ANATTO 247 



but the packing should not be done until the seeds are per- 

 fectly dry ; for, otherwise, they will become mouldy, or fer- 

 mentation will be set up, and then the colour will be destroyed 

 and the product will be valueless. 



Preparation of Anatto. — The seeds are valuable solely 

 for the reddish-yellow waxy testa which envelops them, and 

 sometimes this is removed and shipped in cakes or rolls- Cake and 

 The former is known in commerce as roll or flag anatto, and 

 the latter as cake anatto, and ten pounds of the seeds will 

 give at least a pound of the cake. 



The preparation of anatto is very simple. The freshly Preparation 

 gathered seeds are put in a tub, and boiling water is thrown 

 on them, the mass being frequently stirred so as to wash off 

 the waxy testa from the seeds. After some days the mass is Sieves. 

 passed through a sieve so as to separate the seeds, which 

 should come away free from the dye. The liquid is then left Fermen- 

 for a week to ferment, and to allow the dye to subside to the '^^'°"- 

 bottom of the vessel, and the clear water is decanted off. 

 The deposited dye is afterwards removed to shallow pans, in Evapora 

 order that the excess of moisture may be evaporated in the ^''^"' 

 shade. When the substance is of the consistency of putty, 

 it may be made into rolls of two or three pounds weight 

 each, and wrapped in banana leaves, and it then becomes the Anatto 

 flag or roll anatto — which is exported in great quantity from fn'^baSLa 

 Brazil. It may, however, be allowed to become drier by •^^^^^• 

 a longer exposure in shallow pans, and then it can be 

 moulded into square cakes weighing eight or ten pounds each, Cake anatto 

 which should be wrapped in banana leaves. The cakes are 

 usually packed for export in casks containing five hundred- 

 weight of the product. Cake anatto is brown externally, but 

 the inside is of a reddish or yellowish colour ; and in this form 

 it fetches the highest price in the markets. The cakes should 

 be thoroughly dry before they are packed, to prevent them 

 losing theirvalueby becoming mouldy after they are shipped. 



In the French colony of Guadeloupe, where roucou is ex- 



