Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
March,  1886.  J 
Annatto. 
153 
ANNATTO.* 
By  William  Lawson. 
The  subject  which.  I  have  the  honor  to  bring  shortly  before  your  notice  this 
evening  is  one  that  formed  the  basis  of  some  instructive  remarks  by  Dr.  Red- 
wood in  November,  1855,  and  also  of  a  paper  by  Dr.  Hassall,  read  before  the 
Society  in  London  in  January,  1856,  which  latter  gave  rise  to  an  animated  dis- 
cussion. The  work  detailed  below  was  well  in  hand  when  Mr.  MacEwan  drew 
my  attention  to  these  and  kindly  supplied  me  with  the  volume  containing  re- 
ports of  them.  Unfortunately  they  deal  principally  with  the  adulterations? 
while  I  was  more  particularly  desirous  to  learn  the  composition  in  a  general 
way,  and  especially  the  percentage  of  coloring  resin,  the  important  constituent 
in  commercial  annatto.  Within  the  last  few  years  it  was  one  of  the  articles  in 
considerable  demand  in  this  part  of  the  country ;  now  it  is  seldom  inquired 
for.  This  certainly  is  not  because  butter  coloring  has  ceased  to  be  employed, 
and  hence  the  reason  for  regretting  that  the  percentage  of  resin  was  not  dealt 
with  in  the  articles  referred  to,  so  that  a  comparison  could  have  been  made  be- 
tween the  commercial  annatto  of  that  period  and  that  which  exists  now.  In 
case  some  may  not  be  in  possession  of  literature  bearing  on  it — which,  by  the 
way,  is  very  meagre — it  may  not  be  oat  of  place  to  quote  some  short  details  as 
to  its  source,  the  processes  for  obtaining  it,  the  composition  of  the  raw  material, 
and  then  the  method  followed  in  the  present  inquiry  will  be  given,  together 
with  the  results  of  the  examination  of  ten  samples ;  and  though  the  subject 
doubtless  has  more  interest  for  the  country  than  for  the  town  druggist,  still,  I 
trust  it  will  have  points  of  interest  for  both. 
Annatto  is  the  coloring  matter  derived  from  the  seeds  of  an  evergreen  plant, 
Bixa  Orellana,  which  grows  in  the  East  and  West  Indian  Islands  and  South 
America,  in  the  latter  of  which  it  is  principally  prepared.  Two  kinds  are  im- 
ported, Spanish  annatto,  made  in  Brazil,  and  flag  or  French,  made  mostly  in 
Cayenne.  These  differ  considerably  in  character  and  properties,  the  latter  hav- 
ing a  disagreeable  putrescent  odor,  while  the  Spanish  is  rather  agreeable  when 
fresh  and  good.  It  is,  however,  inferior  to  the  flag  as  a  coloring  or  dyeing  agent. 
The  seeds  from  which  the  substance  is  obtained  are  red  on  the  outside,  and  two 
methods  are  followed  in  order  to  obtain  it.  One  is  to  rub  or  wash  off  the  color- 
ing matter  with  water,  allow  it  to  subside,  and  to  expose  it  to  spontaneous 
evaporation  till  it  acquires  a  pasty  consistence.  The  other  is  to  bruise  the  seeds, 
mix  them  with  water  and  allow  fermentation  to  set  in,  during  which  the  color- 
ing matter  collects  at  the  bottom,  from  which  it  is  subsequently  removed  and 
brought  to  the  proper  consistence  by  spontaneous  evaporation.  These  particu- 
lars, culled  from  Dr.  Redwood's  remarks,  may  suffice  to  show  its  source  and  the 
methods  for  obtaining  it. 
Dr.  John  gives  the  following  as  the  composition  of  the  pulp  surrounding  the 
seeds :  Coloring  resinous  matter,  28 ;  vegetable  gluten,  26*5 ;  ligneous  fibre,  20 ; 
coloring,  20 ;  extractive  matter,  4 ;  and  a  trace  of  spicy  and  acid  matter. 
It  must  be  understood,  however,  that  commercial  annatto,  having  undergone 
processes  necessary  to  fit  it  for  its  various  uses,  as  well  as  to  preserve  it,  differs 
*Eead  at  an  Evening  Meeting  of  the  North  British  Branch  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society, 
January  21st. 
