Cochineal

Cochineal is a red dye made from dried bodies of scale insects native to the Americas. Its color comes chiefly from carminic acid.

Carminic acid: A red anthraquinone pigment produced by cochineal insects and used in dyes and colorants. This molecule supplies cochineal’s characteristic red color.
Dactylopius coccus: A scale insect native to the Americas and the principal source of commercial cochineal dye. This is the species most closely associated with historical and modern cochineal production.
Textile dyeing: The coloring of fibers, yarns, or fabrics with dyes. Cochineal was prized for coloring wool and other textiles in vivid reds.
Madder: A red dye obtained from the roots of plants in the genus Rubia, especially Rubia tinctorum. Madder offers a plant-based red where cochineal supplies an insect-derived one.
Carmine: A red lake pigment made by precipitating carminic acid, commonly with aluminum salts. Carmine is the pigment form made from cochineal’s soluble coloring matter.
Mesoamerica: A historical cultural region extending across central and southern Mexico and parts of Central America. Cochineal was cultivated and used in Mesoamerican societies before European colonization.
Food coloring: A dye, pigment, or other substance added to food to impart or restore color. Cochineal extract and carmine color a range of foods.
Kermes: A crimson dye historically obtained from the dried bodies of scale insects in the genus Kermes. Kermes is another insect dye, but comes from Old World species.
Mordant: A substance that helps a dye bind to fibers by forming a coordination complex with the dye. Mordants help cochineal color textiles and can alter the resulting shade.
Aztec Empire: A Mesoamerican empire centered on Tenochtitlan that flourished in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Cochineal tribute and trade formed part of the empire’s economy.

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