Researchers at the University of São Paulo's Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP) and the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in Brazil have shown for the first time that bixin or annatto powder, a carotenoid pigment extracted from the seeds of the achiote or annatto tree (Bixa orellana), is not produced only in the seeds but also in other organs, and that the process intensifies in the plant's adult phase.
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The study showed that a decline in production of microRNA 156 at the end of the juvenile phase coincides with a rise in production of the pigment. Credit: Fábio Tebaldi Silveira Nogueira/ESALQ-USP
The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Botany, also describes genetic modifications in the species that can optimize production of the pigment, which is widely used in the food and beverage industries as a natural coloring agent, and in sunscreens as well as other medications and cosmetics.
Demand for the pigment has risen in recent years, as more consumers seek products with natural ingredients. According to data published in Revista Brasileira de Gestão e Desenvolvimento Regional, Brazil is the world's largest producer of the pigment, with São Paulo state in the lead.
"The more we know about the anatomic and physiological characteristics of Brazil's native species, especially those with economic importance, such as annatto, and the better we understand the genetic pathways involved in their development and the substances they produce, the more efficiently we'll be able to manage them, which is essential in an era of climate change," Fábio Tebaldi Silveira Nogueira, last author of the article, told Agência FAPESP. He is a researcher at ESALQ-USP's Plant Development Molecular Genetic Laboratory.
In the study, researchers…
Julia Moióli