What dye used in cooking for crimson tints is made from the body of a female insect inhabiting Peru and Mexico?
Crimson although the dyes were comparable in quality and color intensity it needed ten to twelve times as much kermes to produce the same effect as cochineal. Carmine is the name given to the dye made from the dried bodies of the female cochineal, although the name crimson is sometimes applied to these dyes too. Cochineal appears to have been brought to Europe during the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniard Hernán Cortés, and the name 'carmine' is derived from the French "carmin". It was first described by Mathioli in 1549. The pigment is also called "cochineal" after the insect from
Kerria lacca time, reducing the economic viability of lac growing. While "K. lacca" is the most commonly cultivated species in many areas, the related "K. yunnanensis" is the most widely used species in China. Lac insects showing diverse body colours have been reported, they may show crimson or yellow body colours. Colour difference in lac insect is inherited as a unit character and crimson is dominant to yellow. Wild type insect possesses crimson body colour due to the presence of a complex closely resembling water-soluble polyhydroxy-anthraquinones, collectively called lac dye. Apart from their usage in food and cosmetics, these anthraquinones also exhibit