Bixa orellana

Bixa orellana L. is a dye plant.

It's been used as a colorant as early as 6000 B.C., as well as a body colorant and to dye cloth , or to dye palm fibers to make hammocks and skirts , as Yaguas have been doing

Colors
You can achieve orange and red colours. The colorants involved are bixina and norbixina.

In Manipur, India is used to get bright and dark reds, a reddish yellow, pale rose, and before kum to get a finer colour.

Parts used
The colorant is in the pulp surrounding the seeds.

Synonims
A local name in Manipur, India is ureirom, in Mexico is called achiote in spanish, and achiotl in nahuatl.