Bixin is an
apocarotenoid Apocarotenoids are organic compounds which occur widely in living organisms. They are derived from carotenoids by oxidative cleavage,
catalyzed by carotenoid oxygenases. Examples include the vitamin A retinoids retinal, retinoic acid, and retinol; a ...
found in the seeds of the
achiote tree (''Bixa orellana'') from which it derives its name. It is commonly extracted from the seeds to form
annatto
Annatto ( or ) is an orange-red condiment and food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree (''Bixa orellana''), native to tropics, tropical parts of the Americas. It is often used to impart a yellow to red-orange color to foods, but ...
, a natural
food coloring
Food coloring, color additive or colorant is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or beverages. Colorants can be supplied as liquids, powders, gels, or pastes. Food coloring is commonly used in commercia ...
, containing about 5% pigments, of which 70–80% are bixin.
Applications
:
center, Red seeds of the achiote tree
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Bixin is one of the colorants used in the snack Cheetos.
Several thousand tons are harvested annually.
Chemical properties
Bixin is unstable. It
isomerizes into ''trans''-bixin (β-bixin), the
double-bond isomer.
:

Bixin is soluble in fats and
alcohols
In chemistry, an alcohol (), is a type of organic compound that carries at least one hydroxyl () functional group bound to a Saturated and unsaturated compounds, saturated carbon atom. Alcohols range from the simple, like methanol and ethanol ...
but insoluble in water. Upon exposure to
alkali
In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...
, the
methyl
In organic chemistry, a methyl group is an alkyl derived from methane, containing one carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms, having chemical formula (whereas normal methane has the formula ). In formulas, the group is often abbreviated as ...
ester
In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an acid (either organic or inorganic) in which the hydrogen atom (H) of at least one acidic hydroxyl group () of that acid is replaced by an organyl group (R). These compounds contain a distin ...
is
hydrolyzed
Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile.
Biological hydrolysi ...
to produce the
dicarboxylic acid
In organic chemistry, a dicarboxylic acid is an organic compound containing two carboxyl groups (). The general molecular formula for dicarboxylic acids can be written as , where R can be aliphatic or aromatic.Boy Cornils, Peter Lappe "Dicarbox ...
norbixin, a water-soluble derivative.
:
References
{{carotenoids
Apocarotenoids
E-number additives