ACHIOTE
Botanical name:
Bixa orellana L.
Alternative names:
Achiote, annatto, urucum, bija, onoto, achiotl
Main indications:
tropical American food dye and condiment
seed-aril colour in oil
folk skin stain / wash
THIS HERB IS PART OF CORAZÓN DEL PUMA HERBAL FORMULA.
Short characteristics:
The red on the seed is bixin. Kitchens from the Amazon to the Caribbean and Mexico use it because cheese and stew look better, not because it is a nephrology herb. It is neotropical, not “Amazonian-only,” and not a shaman master plant. Annatto is a food colour (E160b).
Vilar 2014 and Rivera-Madrid 2016 are the opened papers (composition / bixin pathway). Their “health promoting” title is theirs, not mine. This site sells nothing.
The usual way of use:
Warm the seeds in oil or use the paste as a condiment. Food amounts.
Leaf teas are a different folk use with little I will stand on. This site sells nothing.
WARNING: Annatto allergy exists (rare, real). Food-additive ADIs are a regulator problem, not a reason to drink seed decoctions for kidneys. Not a kidney-failure, hepatitis, STI, or leprosy medicine.
Composition
Bixin in the aril (often most of the pigment), norbixin in alkali extracts; some seed oil.
Traditional use
Body paint and food dye across tropical America.
Precautions
Annatto allergy; do not drink seed decoctions for kidneys.
Opened studies
Vilar et al. (2014). Bixa orellana / annatto review. Opened. PMID 25050404 · PMC4094728.
Rivera-Madrid et al. (2016). Bixin pathway and food dye. Their health-promoting title is theirs, not this page’s. PMID 27708658 · PMC5030781.