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Bixa orellana
It is also known as Aploppas. The seeds of this plant were used in prehispanic times in Mexico for body painting and wall painting. Now it is used for preparing typical food that we call "cochinita pibil" it flavours and colors pork meat, its a traditional dish. In old times it was also medicinal to treat sifilis, thats what the prehispanic people used to think. The plant bears pink flowers and bright red spiny fruits which contain red seeds. The fruits dry and harden to brown capsules.
America, Southeast Asia and India....
@DBO: Good..unfortunately am a vegetarian....!!!! I seen that colored faces in TV!...
@Yuriana: Oh...thats just really awesome..I d love to taste that drink..Yummy!
You can send pics to
adarshabs.math@gmail.com...
Thats so nice of you....
Adarsha, we use it to add some color to the food. Mainly fish dishes.
Also, native Brazilians used to paint their faces with the color red extracted from the seeds when they went to war.
Hi everyone! Adarsha, dont worry i have some seeds to picture them under the estereoscopic microscope, ill post them soon, once i have a little time. By the way it is not a herb, its more like a shrub or a small tree, it is perennial. We (mexicans) in the south mix it with chocolate, and we make a special drink called: tescalate. It has a nice flavour with both ingredients together and a nice brown-redish color. Ill set some seeds for germination and send some pics to you Adarsha, saludos!!
@DBO : Oh..its used in Brazilian Dishes also! Till now i heard about spanish dishes by this! Love to taste it...Can u name any of the dishes?
haven't seen one of these in forever!
We call it urucum - when dried out and reduced to a fine powder, it is used in many brazilian dishes.
@Chief: Yes...see this link full...
http://herbs-treatandtaste.blogspot.in/2...
In tribal medicine it has been used as an aphrodisiac and as a mild laxative, not as strong as senna or jamalgota or the castor bean’s action.
Annatto can reduce inflammation and protects the liver it is believed after clinical trials. It can also kill bacteria in the lab, and research is underway to ascertain if it can be beneficial to our health. It seems also to raise blood sugar levels but lower blood pressure.
@Chief: Yes indeed..I took photo in a trip..I still feel that i could hav taken some fruits! It is a herb, hair oil product, coloring agent!
@ChunXingWong : I too heard from Yuriana that it is used for Spanish Dishes...It is even used as a coloring agent...It has so many uses...
@Seema : Yes it is...read the following link...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annatto
sure Adarsha! you are welcome, the plant and the extract to prepare the meal is called achiote in spanish :D
@YurianaMartinez: Thank you..nice information..i'd like to add these details in description with your permission. And definitley i want to taste that dish :)
the seeds of this plant were used in prehispanic times in Mexico for body painting and wall painting. Now it is used for preparing typical food that we call "cochinita pibil" it flavours and colors pork meat, its a traditional dish. In old times it was also medicinal to treat sifilis, thats what the prehispanic people used to think.
at first it looked like a "Rambutan"...but i think it's from a "Lipstick tree"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bixa_orella...
Spotted on Sep 15, 2012
Submitted on Sep 29, 2012
