What help does the cochineal worm bring to mankind?

What is carmine?

Carmine is a kind of centipede shell worm of the genus Cochinipedes of the family Cochiniperidae that lives in the remote American continent of Mexico. They parasitize on cactus and live by sucking the juice of cactus. Male adults have wings to fly, while female insects have no wings. This unique cochineal insect has a special ability to stress and secrete a bright red carminic acid. After purification and other processes, a red pigment, cochineal red, can be obtained.

Carmine is a kind of onion derivative, with the appearance of red ginger crystal or red-brown powder. Some of the carmine products sold on the market are also dark red viscous liquid. Insoluble in cold water, slightly soluble in hot water or ethanol. Soluble in alkali, insoluble in dilute acid. Insoluble in ether, chloroform and benzene. In alkali and dilute acid, the color changes with the pH of the solution. It is orange in acid, dark red in neutral, and purple in alkaline.

Role of carmine

Carmine can be used for coloring food, medicine and cosmetics, especially mouthwash, tooth powder, powder and oil. When it is used for coloring solid powder dosage forms, it should be dissolved in a small amount of concentrated ammonia solution, then added to the powder, and grinded for a long time, in order to obtain the best color with uniform distribution. Use aluminum salt or tin salt mordant dyeing to dye silk and wool into a group of brilliant red. It can be used as a pigment for food and cosmetics, as an indicator for titrating ammonia solution, and as a reagent for microscopic analysis and fluorescence analysis.

1. Cosmetics

It can be used for lipstick, foundation make-up, eye shadow, eyeliner, nail polish and baby products.

Cosmetics containing carmine (only part):

2. Medicine

Carmine is used in the pharmaceutical industry as a coating material for tablets and pellets and as a colorant for capsule shells.

3. Food

As a food additive, carmine is mostly used in the coloring of jam, candy, cakes, drinks, baked goods, puffed food, cooked meat products, etc. As a kind of natural pigment, it meets people's needs for health and can improve the appearance of food.

Therefore, cochineal insects have made great contributions to pigments. It is hoped that its supply can meet the demand and its cost and price can be reduced through reasonable breeding methods, so that this "perfect pigment" can be more widely used in various fields.

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