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From: harmon_c@h-sc1.UUCP (david harmon)
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: What is achiote? annato seeds
Message-ID: <215@h-sc1.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 16-Mar-85 13:31:21 EST
Article-I.D.: h-sc1.215
Posted: Sat Mar 16 13:31:21 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Mar-85 23:41:22 EST
References: <442@teklds.UUCP> <4876@Glacier.ARPA> <183@osiris.UUCP>
Organization: Harvard Univ. Science Center
Lines: 22

> > Achiote (ah chee OH tay) is used for coloring things yellow.
> > It is the customary source of the yellow in "Natural" yellow Cheddar
> > cheese. It is cheaper than saffron. It has very little flavor of its own.
> > -- 
> > 	Brian Reid	decwrl!glacier!reid
> > 	Stanford	reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA
> 
> No, no, no - the yellow coloring in Cheddar cheese and many other foods
> is not achiote but carotene (or sometimes "keratin" - same stuff, I
> believe).
> 
> 				Phil Kos
> 				The Johns Hopkins Hospital
> 				..seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!osiris!phil

WHAT did you say?  I hate to tell you, but carotene and keratin are NOT the 
same thing.  Carotene is the yellow pigment found in carrots.  I think it can
be synthesized fairly easily, so it might be used for "non-natural" coloring.
Keratin, however, is the hard tissue which comprises the horns and hooves of
most animals, as well as human toe- and finger-nails.
			Dave Harmon
			harmon%h-sc4@harvard