June, 1909.] 



517 



DYES AND TANS. 



THE ANNATTO PLANT. 



By C Conner, 

 Assistant Director of Agriculture. 



(Prom the Philippine Agricultural 

 Review, Vol. I., No. 12, December, 1908.) 



The annatto plant, known locally as 

 achuete, grows throughout most of the 

 islands and does well on any fairly rich 

 soil. Some have thought that it could 

 be grown and marketed at a profit- 



The following table gives the amount 

 used and value in the United States 

 during a period of five yeai si- 

 Fiscal year ending June 30, 



[Quantity Value. . 



(pounds). $ 



1903 307,218 9,210 



1904 274,915 7,447 



1905 301,513 22,959 



1900 281,574 22,156 



1907 051,595 51,128 



Annatto is used in the United States 

 for colouring butter and cheese, and it is 

 highly probable that the values given 

 here are for the manufactured product. 



The seeds are gathered and offered for 

 sale in most of the markets in the 

 Islands and are collected by the Chinese 

 for export. They sell for about 4 cents 

 per pound retail. 



The following interesting extract is 

 reprinted Irom the Bulletin of the Im- 

 perial Institute, Volume 11, No. 2, 1908:— 



Annatto is the orange-red colouring 

 matter occurring as a layer of pulp on 

 the outside of the seeds of the annatto 

 plant, Bixa orellana, a small tree indi- 

 genous to South America, but now ex- 

 tensively cultivated in many tropical 

 countries. 



The supplies of annatto which reach 

 the United Kingdom at present come 

 principally in the form of seeds from 

 the East and West Indies, and as paste 

 from French Guiana or Brazil. 



Cultivation op the Plant, 



The annatto plant grows luxuriantly 

 in almost any soil, and in the Tropics 

 will thrive up to about 3,000 feet above 

 sea level. The soil is prepared for 

 annatto in much the same way as for 

 cotton. The seeds, previously softened 

 by soaking in water, are planted in fur- 

 rows at distances of 8 to 10 feet apart. 

 As the young plants come up they 



should be provided with artificial shade 

 to protect them from excessive heat, 

 but later on a large amount of sunshine 

 is necessary for their proper develop- 

 ment. After three months the plan- 

 tation should be weeded and superfluous 

 plants removed. Beyond periodical 

 weeding the plantation requires little 

 attention. 



Harvesting. 



Full crops of seed may be obtained in 

 three or four years from the time of 

 sowing, but the collection of seed may 

 be commenced usually after the first 

 eighteen months or even earlier. The 

 fruit capsules are gathered when they 

 have acquired a reddsih colour and are 

 just beginning to break open. This 

 takes place from the pointed end along 

 the edges and causes the seeds to be 

 exposed. It is said to be advantageous 

 to cut the branches along with the 

 capsules, as in this way the plants are 

 prevented from growing so high as to 

 make collection a matter of difficulty, 

 and they bear better. 



The capsules are opened out on mats 

 or cloths and allowed to dry completely 

 in the sun, being turned over from time 

 to time. 



Three or four days' exposure is usually 

 sufficient to accomplish this, and the 

 fruits are then collected in heaps and 

 beaten with clubs or threshed to seperate 

 the seeds. These are separated from the 

 empty pods by winnowing or sifting 

 and again exposed to the sun until they 

 are completely dry. 



The seed is usually packed in barrels 

 for export, but manufacturers using 

 annatto in the United Kingdom recom 

 mend that they should be packed in 

 double sacks holding from 1£ to 2 

 hundredweight each. Great care should 

 be taken to see that the seeds are dry 

 before they are packed, as if they are 

 at all damp they are liable to become 

 mouldy and lose colour. 



Commercial Value of Annatto 

 Seeds. 



The prices obtained for annatto seed 

 in London in the last few years have 

 varied somewhat, Ceylon and Madras 

 seed fetched from 6 pence to 7 pence 

 per pound at the end of 1905, but gradu- 

 ally fell to 3* pence or 4 pence during 1900. 

 Jamaica seed similarly fell from 8 pence 

 at the end of 1905 to 4 pence in October, 

 1906. At present 4 pence per pound may 

 be taken as the average value. Java 



