The jungle plant that provides many merchandise their pink hue is the invention of Amazonian Indians — one other reward from tribal peoples to all humanity
At first look, it’s not straightforward to seek out an apparent connection between uncontacted Indians within the rainforest of north-western Brazil, cheeses equivalent to British Cheddar and French Maroilles, pink lipstick and cinema popcorn.
What hyperlinks all of them, nonetheless, is a tree with pink flowers and heart-shaped leaves referred to as the ‘achiote’ tree, which is Indigenous to South America. The identify is derived from the Nahuatl phrase ‘achiotl’; it is usually often called ‘aploppas’, or ‘urucu’ within the Tupi language.
The rose-coloured seeds of the tree, contained inside spiny capsules, produce a pigment generally often called annatto, for which Indian tribes have lengthy had many makes use of. The Aztecs are thought to have added it to chocolate drunk by their clergymen; as we speak, the Tsáchila of Ecuador use it to dye their hair pink and the Zo’é of Brazil to color their our bodies. Many tribes make use of it as a material dye and meals spice.
South American Indians additionally apply annatto medicinally: as an aphrodisiac and a digestive, a sunscreen and examine repellent. The curanderos, or natural healers of the Peruvian Amazon, squeeze the juice from the contemporary leaves to treatment eye infections.
It’s only in recent times that annatto has arguably turn out to be the world’s most vital pure meals colourant, subsequent to caramel. When the seeds are crushed and soaked in water, they produce an orange-yellow or pink paste, which creates the yellow hue of Cheddar and Maroilles, the orange-tint of salad oils and popcorn, and the colourful flush of pink lipsticks. It additionally serves as an alternative choice to saffron, and to deal with excessive ldl cholesterol, thinning hair and hypertension.
Annatto is among the many items that tribal folks have given mankind, and is testomony to their encyclopedic information of their ecosystems.
