Bixa orellana L. is a bushy tree which can achieve height from
3 to 10 meters. Its leaves are evergreen with reddish veins and also
leaves have a round, heart-shaped base and a pointed tip. Bixa orellana can be found in whole globe and it can
be grown from either seed or cutlings. B. orellana needs sunlight and
protection from the wind. The plant can grow well either in lowlands or
mountainous regions or areas of higher elevation. B. orellana is native
to the tropical American area, the Central and South American rain forests.
There are varieties
of common names for B. orellana because it flourishes in a variety of places.
It is most frequently called annatto. The tree produces fruits, and red seeds are inside
these fruits. Annatto, containing bixin or norbixin as a carotenoid,
is a natural orange-yellow color widely added to foods (Lauro, 1991; Collins,
1992). Orange-red dye is extracted from red seeds. The annatto colorants are
used as food coloring for many foods, such as dairy products, bakery products,
fish, soft drinks, meat products, snack foods and powdered dry mixes (Preston & Rickard, 1980).
There are varieties
of common names for B. orellana because it flourishes in a variety of places.
It is most frequently called annatto. The tree produces fruits, and red seeds are inside
these fruits. Annatto, containing bixin or norbixin as a carotenoid,
is a natural orange-yellow color widely added to foods (Lauro, 1991; Collins,
1992). Orange-red dye is extracted from red seeds. The annatto colorants are
used as food coloring for many foods, such as dairy products, bakery products,
fish, soft drinks, meat products, snack foods and powdered dry mixes (Preston & Rickard, 1980).
ß-carotene provides the color to the seeds and also because of its
highly unsaturated structure it causes unstability under processing and storage
conditions such as high temperature, light and oxygen. Encapsulation
method is used to improve stability of carotenoids. Sensitive ingredients are entrapped
inside a coating material. The structure formed around the microencapsulated
sensitive ingredients is called the wall. Gums, maltodextrins of different
dextrose equivalent, some proteins and their blends are used as wall materials
and these materials have strong influence on the stability and solubility of
the core ingredient (Barbosa, Borsarelli & Mercadante, 2005).
Barbosa, M.,
Borsarelli, C., & Mercadante, A. (2005). Light stability of
spray-dried bixin encapsulated with different edible polysaccharide
preparations. Food Research
International, 38(8-9),
989–994.
Collins, P. (1992) The
role of annatto in food coloring. Food Ingred. Process. Int., Feb, 23-27.
Lauro, G. A (1991). Primer
on natural colors. Cereal Foods World, 36, 949-953.
H.D.
Preston, M.D. Rickard (1980) Extraction
and chemistry of annatto. Food
Chemistry, 5, pp. 47–56
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