COCHINEAL BEETLES
Cochineal Beetles (Dactylopius Coccus) are the important insect which have many importance and present in different areas
of the world. The cactus plants are the food of these insects. These insects are oval shaped, flat, soft bodied insects. They
present in Mexico and South America. These Insects are feeding on the plant, moisture and nutrients and living on cacti.
Female cochineal beetles eat the red cactus berries, so when the beetles are creased, a very deep red color is formed. Due to
its nontoxic properties, Cochineal colour has been used for many years, therefore, its use is very common in yogurt, candy,
ice cream, eye shadow, lipstick. In fact, Starbucks just known to using dyeing color in some of their beverages, producing a
large problem for their many vegan supporters. Various customers may not know the red coloring of their fabric like
pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, andamp; food could be removed from the creased bodies of cochineal.
In Cochineal insects carminic acid substances is
present in high concentration which obtained from
insects eggs and body and is mixed with calcium and
Aluminum salts to make a carmine color. It is also
identified as cochineal. in our food products and
cosmetics mainly used carminic acid like natural red
4,75470, cochineal extract, carmine ,crimson lake
used to color our products. In recent update for those
of us observing to avoid the products of animal
manipulation, as it has been known to cause severe
asthmatic attacks, anaphylactic shock and allergic
reactions in some people the component must be
comprised on packaging labels when used as a food
additive. Carmine is present in two forms insoluble
form use in jams, meat, marinades, icings, dairy
products, sausages, juice beverages, and processed
poultry. And the water soluble form of carmine is
used in alcoholic drinks. It is also used in cosmetic and
drug industry practices cochineal to color face
powdered, lipsticks, blushes, hair and skin-care
product and in drugs used in tablets and creams and
gels.
PROCESS:
In our microbiology labs a dark red colour are frequently prepared form carmine extract. The dark crimson colour is made by
collecting by females and their babies. The cochineal bugs are farmed for three months when they are ninety days old then
collected these insects. This practice is very beneficial for commercial production.
After collecting the insects are carefully scrubbed from the cacti, and kept into bags. For further process collected insects
taken to the production place and insects are killed by different ways i.e., by using heat of oven, dipping in hot water and
direct exposure to sunlight it is to be famous that the alteration in appearance of commercial cochineal is caused by the
different ways used during this procedure. For making one pound (454 gm) of cochineal about 70,000 insects are used. It is
thought that abdomen of one cochineal contain about 18-20% of carminic acid. The stomach is the part of insect that houses
the fertilized eggs of the cochineal contains the maximum carmine. A process initiates after drying whereby the abdomens
and fertilized eggs are detached from the other parts of the body. These are then ground into a powder and cooked to
extract the maximum quantity of dye. This solution put through special practices after cleaning. This causes all carmine
particles to settle down to the bottom of the cooking container. The
lowest part of the container is left with pure carmine when liquid is
removed. In manufacture many other ingredients can be used
which include stannous, gelatin, borax chloride, citric acid, etc.
That natural red dyeing in your food and
makeup might come from a place that may
make you cringe. The ground-up bodies of
thousands of tiny insects; thousands of
miles from your local grocery store,
farmers in south and Central America
make a living harvesting and smashing the
bugs that go into the dye. Theyand#39;re called
cochineal insects, and their crushed bodies
produce a deep red ink that is used as a
natural food coloring. The squeamish
customers out there (and those that are
vegan) werenand#39;t too happy when they
found out that the dye was used in the
Starbucksand#39; Strawberry Frappuccino. The
outcry ended in Starbucks halting its use of
the product. But the dye is still used in
thousands of other food products from
Nerds candies to grapefruit juice including
that lovely red lipstick. You will never see
the word andquot;insectsandquot; listed on a product
label, though. In 2009, the Food and Drug
Administration announced a new act that
simply required food producers to list the
ingredient as andquot;carmine,andquot; a catch-all term
for an especially deep-red colour of the
same name.
USES:
Carmine can b use in products by different
ways
Cosmetic Manufacturing: Dispersions close to Lipsticks, eye shadows, eye area.
Alcoholic Drinks: Foodstuffs with low pH requiring orange andamp;
red colors.
Beverage Production: fruit, energy drinks, soft drinks.
Dairy Industry: Yogurts and dairy based beverages, ice cream.
Food Industry: meat, frozen fish, etc.