Products

Annatto

Scientific name 

Bixa Orellana

Country of origin

Guatemala 

Presentations 

Whole

Ground

From exotic foods to ethnomedical uses

Annatto (Bixa orellana) is a shrub or small tree from the tropical region of the American continent. The name derives from the Nahuatl word for the shrub, achiotl. It is also known as Aploppas, and its original Tupi name urucu. It is cultivated there and in Southeast Asia, where it was introduced by the Spanish in the 17th century. It is best known as the source of the natural pigment annatto, produced from the fruit. The plant bears pink flowers and bright red spiny fruits which contain red seeds. The fruits dry and harden to brown capsules.

The inedible fruit is harvested for its seeds, which contain annatto, also called bixin. It can be extracted by stirring the seeds in water. It is used to color food products, such as cheeses, fish, and salad oil. Sold as a paste or powder for culinary use, mainly as a color, it is known as “achiote,” “annatto,” “bijol,” or “pimento doce.” It is a main ingredient in the Yucatecan spice mixture recado rojo, or “achiote paste.” The seeds are ground and used as a subtly flavored and colorful additive in Latin American, Jamaican and Filipino cuisine. Annatto is growing in popularity as a natural alternative to synthetic food coloring compounds. While it has a distinct flavor of its own, it can be used to color and flavor rice instead of the much more expensive saffron. It is an important ingredient of cochinita pibil, the spicy pork dish popular in Mexico. 

Ethnomedical uses

The Annatto has long been used by American Indians to make body paint, especially for the lips, which is the origin of the plant’s nickname, lipstick tree. The use of the dye in the hair by men of the Tsachila of Ecuador is the origin of their usual Spanish name, the Colorados.

Parts of the plant can be used to make medicinal remedies for such conditions as sunstroke, tonsilitis, burns, leprosy, pleurisy, apnoea, rectal discomfort, and headaches.

The sap from fruits is also used to treat type 2 diabetes, and fungal infections.

Allspice

Scientific name

Pimenta Dioica

Country of origin 

Guatemala 

Our allspice presentations

Whole 

Ground

A unique product from tropical regions

Allspice, also called Jamaica pepper, kurundu, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or newspice is a spice which is the dried unripe fruit (“berries”) of Pimenta dioica , a mid-canopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world. The name “pepper” was coined as early as 1621 by the English, who thought it combined the flavour of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

Several unrelated fragrant shrubs are called “Carolina Pepper” (Calycanthus floridus), “Japanese Pepper” (Chimonathus fragrans) or “Wild Pepper” (Lindera benzoin). Pepper is also sometimes used to refer to the herb Costmary (Tanacetum balsamita).

Ground pepper is not, as some people believe, a mixture of spices. Rather, it is the dried fruit of the Pimenta dioica plant. The fruit is picked when it is green and unripe and, traditionally, dried in the sun. When dry, the fruits are brown and resemble large brown peppercorns. The whole fruits have a longer shelf life than the powdered product and produce a more aromatic product when freshly ground before use.