Annatto

Annatto (/əˈnætoʊ/ or /əˈnɑːtoʊ/) is an orange-red condiment and food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree (Bixa orellana), native to tropical parts of the Americas.

Similar effects can be obtained by extracting some of the color and flavor principles from the seeds with hot water, oil, or lard, which are then added to the food.

In these uses, annatto is a natural alternative to synthetic food coloring compounds, but it has been linked to rare cases of food-related allergies.

[4] Annatto is of particular commercial value in the United States because the Food and Drug Administration considers colorants derived from it to be "exempt of certification".

[9] Men of the Tsàchila tribe in Ecuador are highly recognizable thanks to their traditional bright orange hair, which is achieved by using crushed seeds of annatto.

Annatto has been traditionally used as both a coloring and flavoring agent in various cuisines from Latin America, the Caribbean, the Philippines, and other countries where it was taken home by Spanish and Portuguese colonizers in the 16th century.

In the prehistory and early history of South and Central America, the pure, soaked annatto seed was fermented with 5% honey for 10 days and sometimes used as a sole foodstuff.

[14] In the 17th century, the Dutch, who had established colonies in Guyana, traded in food, particularly an orange-red natural colorant, annatto, with the indigenous communities.

Zeeland traders under the authority of the West India Company bought annatto from the inhabitants of the coastal regions of Guyana and Suriname and sold it in the Netherlands as verw ('paint').

[15] The earliest known documentation of annatto's use in cheese is in a 1743 Dutch volume Huishoudelyk Woordboek (Household Dictionary), according to American scientist Paul Kindstedt of the University of Vermont.

This usage was subsequently adopted in other parts of the UK, for cheeses such as Cheshire and Red Leicester, as well as colored Cheddar made in Scotland.

Cheeses that use annatto in at least some preparations include: The yellow to orange color is produced by the chemical compounds bixin and norbixin, which are classified as carotenoids.