From War Paint to Candy Bars: An Extraordinarily Versatile Tropical Plant
Posted in Interesting Plant Stories on March 19, 2015 by Ana María Ruiz
Ana María Ruiz is a herbarium data assistant for the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden. She is working on the digitization of fungal specimens for the Macrofungi Collections Consortium Project and is a research assistant for the Lichens of the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Project.
Bixa orellana, also known as annatto, is a commonly used staple found in kitchens around the world. Everyone at one point or another has consumed it without even knowing it because it is almost tasteless. Used primarily as a food coloring, it has been added to butter, margarine, cheese, cured meats, rice, ice cream, and many other foods.
Nestlé chocolate will soon be added to that list. Nestlé USA recently announced that it was removing all artificial flavors and colorings from all of its chocolate candy by the end of 2015. Instead, the company will begin using annatto, particularly in its reformulation of Butterfinger candy bars. Annatto will provide the natural coloring in the crunchy orange center of the chocolate bar.
The New York Botanical Garden holds collections of the plant and fruit specimens, which can be observed, admired, or studied in the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium. As part of the Steere Herbarium’s digitization projects, the images of the plant and fruit specimens are also available through the Botanical Garden’s C.V. Starr Virtual Herbarium. And live specimens grow in the Lowland Tropical Rain Forest Gallery of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.