cochineal (kŏchĬnēl´, kŏch´Ĭnēl), natural dye obtained from an extract of the bodies of the females of the cochineal bug (Dactylopius confusus) found on certain species of cactus, especially Nopalea coccinellifera, native to Mexico and Central America. The insects' bodies contain the pigment called carminic acid, which is obtained by subjecting a mass of the crushed insects to steam or dry heat; such large numbers of the insects are needed to produce a small amount of dye that the cost is high. Once commonly used as a scarlet-red mordant dye for wool and as a food color, cochineal has been largely replaced by synthetic products. It is used chiefly now as a biological stain.

cochineal A water‐soluble red colour obtained from the female conchilla, Dactilopius coccus (Coccus cactus), an insect found in central America, and the Caribbean; 1 kg of the colour is obtained from about 150 000 insects. Legally permitted in foods in most countries. Contains carminic acid. Cochineal red A is an alternative name for Ponceau 4R, often used to replace cochineal.

cochineal A dye (cochinealin or carminic acid, C₂₂H₂₀O₁₃) plus a wax and a fat, all three of which have commercial uses, obtained from the dried bodies of female Dactylopius coccus (family Coccidae), hemipteran insects which feed on cacti, are native to Mexico and Peru, and are cultivated in parts of Central America, southern Europe, and N. Africa.

cochineal dye-stuff consisting of the dried bodies of a S. American insect, which was at first supposed to be a berry. XVI. — F. cochenille or Sp. cochinilla, which is gen. referred to L. coccinus scarlet (Gr. kókkos kermes).

cochineal Crimson dye produced from the pulverized dried bodies of certain female scale insects, found in Central America. The dye is still used in cosmetics and foodstuffs, although now often replaced by aniline dyes.

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