Urucum
Urucum
| Urucum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Fruto aberto da árvore do aquiote ( Bixa orellana ), mostrando as sementes das quais o urucum é extraído. | |
Classificação científica | |
| Reino: | Plantae |
| Clade : | Traqueófito |
| Clade : | Angiospermas |
| Clade : | Eudicots |
| Clade : | Rosids |
| Ordem: | Malvales |
| Família: | Bixaceae |
| Gênero: | Bixa |
| Espécies: | B. orellana |
| Nome binomial | |
| Bixa orellana | |
Urucum ( / ə n æ t oʊ / ou / ə n ɑː t oʊ / ) é um condimento vermelho-alaranjado e corante alimentar derivado das sementes da árvore de urucum ( Bixa Orellana ), nativo de regiões tropicais do México para o Brasil . É frequentemente usado para conferir uma cor amarela ou laranja aos alimentos, mas às vezes também por seu sabor e aroma. Seu aroma é descrito como "levemente apimentado com um toque de noz-moscada" e o sabor como "levemente nozes, doce e apimentado".
A cor do urucum vem de vários pigmentos carotenóides, principalmente bixina e norbixina, encontrados na camada cerosa avermelhada das sementes. O condimento é normalmente preparado triturando as sementes até formar um pó ou pasta. Efeitos semelhantes podem ser obtidos extraindo alguns dos princípios de cor e sabor das sementes com água quente, óleo ou banha, que são então adicionados à comida.
O urucum e seus extratos são agora amplamente utilizados em escala artesanal ou industrial como corante em muitos produtos alimentícios processados, como queijos, pastas lácteas, manteiga e margarina, cremes, bolos e outros produtos assados, batatas, salgadinhos, cereais matinais , peixe defumado, salsichas e muito mais. Nessas utilizações, o urucum é uma alternativa natural aos corantes alimentares sintéticos, mas tem sido associado a raros casos de alergia alimentar. O urucum tem um valor comercial específico nos Estados Unidos porque a Food and Drug Administration considera os corantes derivados dele como "isentos de certificação".
História
The annatto tree B. orellana is believed to originate in tropical regions from Mexico to Brazil. It was probably not initially used as a food additive, but for other purposes such as ritual and decorative body painting (still an important tradition in many Brazilian native tribes, such as the Wari'), sunscreen, and insect repellent, and for medical purposes.It was used for Mexican manuscript painting in the 16th century.
Annatto has been traditionally used as both a coloring and flavoring agent in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Philippines, and other countries where it was taken home by Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the 16th century. It has various local names according to region. Its use has spread in historic times to other parts of the world, and it was incorporated in local culinary traditions of many countries outside the Americas.
Culinary uses
Traditional cuisine
Ground annatto seeds, often mixed with other seeds or spices, are used in the form of paste or powder for culinary use, especially in Latin American, Jamaican, Belizean, Chamorro, Vietnamese, and Filipino cuisines. In Mexican and Belizean cuisines, it is used to make the spice recado rojo. In Venezuela, annatto is used in the preparation of hallacas, huevos pericos, and other traditional dishes. Pasteles and sazón in Puerto Rico also contain annatto. Annatto paste is an important ingredient of cochinita pibil, the slow-roasted pork dish popular in Mexico. It is also a key ingredient in the drink tascalate from Chiapas, Mexico. In the Philippines, it is used for the sauce of pancit. In Guam, it is used to make a staple rice dish flavored with annatto, onion, garlic, butter, and other spices.
Industrial food coloring
Annatto is used currently to impart a yellow or orange color to many industrialized and semi-industrialized foods, including cheese, ice cream, bakery products, desserts, fruit fillings, yogurt, beverages, butter, oils, margarines, processed cheese, and fat-based products. In the European Union, it is identified by the E number E160b.
Annatto has been a traditional colorant for Gloucester cheese since the 16th century. During the summer, the high levels of carotene in the grass would have given the milk an orange tint which was carried through into the cheese. This orange hue came to be regarded as an indicator of the best cheese, spurring producers of inferior cheese to use annatto to replicate it. The custom of adding annatto then spread to other parts of the UK, for cheeses such as Cheshire and Red Leicester, as well as colored Cheddar made in Scotland. Many cheddars are produced in both white and red (orange) varieties, with the latter being more popular despite the only difference between the two being the presence of annatto as a coloring. That practice has extended to many modern processed cheese products, such as American cheese and Velveeta. Cheeses from other countries also use annatto, including Mimolette from France and Leyden from the Netherlands.
Cheeses that use annatto in at least some preparations include:
- Cheddar (UK)
- Cheshire (UK)
- Colby (U.S.)
- Gloucester (UK)
- Graskaas (Netherlands)
- Leyden (Netherlands)
- Livarot (France)
- Mimolette (France)
- Mont des Cats (France)
- Muenster (U.S.)
- Red Leicester (UK)
- Saint Paulin (France)
- Shropshire Blue (UK)
Chemical composition
The yellow to orange color is produced by the chemical compounds bixin and norbixin, which are classified as carotenoids. The fat-soluble color in the crude extract is called bixin, which can then be saponified into water-soluble norbixin. This dual solubility property of annatto is rare for carotenoids. The seeds contain 4.5–5.5% pigment, which consists of 70–80% bixin. Unlike beta-carotene, another well-known carotenoid, annatto-based pigments are not vitamin A precursors. The more norbixin in an annatto color, the more yellow it is; a higher level of bixin gives it a more orange shade.
Safety
In the United States, annatto extract is listed as a color additive "exempt from certification" and is informally considered to be a natural coloring. Foods colored with annatto may declare the coloring in the statement of ingredients as "colored with annatto" or "annatto color."
Annatto condiments and colorants are safe for most people when used in food amounts, but they may cause allergic reactions in those who are sensitive. In one 1978 study of 61 patients suffering from chronic hives or angioedema, 56 patients were orally provoked by annatto extract during an elimination diet. A challenge was performed with a dose equivalent to the amount used in 25 grams (7⁄8 ounce) of butter. Twenty-six percent of the patients reacted to this color four hours after intake, worse than synthetic dyes such as amaranth (9%), tartrazine (11%), Sunset Yellow FCF (17%), Food Red 17 (16%), Ponceau 4R (15%), erythrosine (12%) and Brilliant Blue FCF (14%).
O urucum não está entre as "Oito Grandes" substâncias que causam reações de hipersensibilidade (leite de vaca, ovo, amendoim, nozes, peixes, mariscos, soja e trigo), responsáveis por mais de 90% dos alimentos alérgicos
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