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carminic acid

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Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

noun A red crystalline compound, C₂₂H₂₀O₁₃, that is extracted from female cochineal insects and is used as a biological stain, complexing agent, and acid-base indicator.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

noun chemistry a phenolic quinone that is the main constituent of cochineal

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chained_bear commented on the word carminic acid

Read comment on oak-kermes, and anthraquinone. Also:

"Although it is now possible to synthesize carminic acid in the laboratory, the process is too complex to be cost-effective. Cochineal insects are the most economical manufacturers, and they remain the only commercially viable source of the dye.

"Sold free of bug parts, in liquid or powdered form, cochineal appears on European labels as additive E120, and elsewhere as cochineal extract, carmine, carminic acid, or simply as 'coloring added.' It can be found in products as diverse as candy, Popsicles, sausages, yogurt, fruit juice, ice cream, apple sauce, pudding, cheese, cough syrup, rouge, lipstick, eye shadow, and Campari."

Amy Butler Greenfield, A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire (New York: Harper Collins, 2005), 244.

October 4, 2017