What is Achiote?
Achiote is also known as annatto and is an herb available in the western world that is not too known. Since thousands of years it has been known to prevent minor as well as life-threatening illnesses. It is available in the form of seeds that normally grow inside the fruit of achiote also known as BixaOrellana. It is found in abundance in South America, Carribean and a few other areas where there is tropical or subtropical weather.
Achiote’s largest business utilization is natural food color produced using the seeds covering. Numerous orange or yellow fabricated foods are hued with achiote. Natural and transformed cheeses, margarine and butter, cakes, treats, snacks and cereals are all usually shaded with achiote. Foods hued with achiote seed are marked shaded with annatto. Annatto’s splendid yellow color is because of its high bixin levels and Carotenoids like bixin enter the eye and help them to assimilate destructive beams and avert cataracts and untimely blindness.
Benefits/Uses of Achiote
Research on the long term uses of achiote is still going on and a number of consumptions have been reported based on clinical trials and the prehistoric records. Some of these uses include:
- Gives color and flavor to various foods
- Used in cosmetics, fabric dye, body paint, sunscreen, insect repellents and as a medicine
- Achiote powder mixed with other spices and herbs is used as a paste to marinate and give a smoky flavor to meats, fish and poultry
- When used in large quantities it gives flavor and divulges an earthy and peppery flavor with a hint of bitterness
- Can improve heart health
- Has the tendency to heal reproductive problems
- Can eliminate systemic infections and much more
- Can also prevent anti-ageing because of the abundance of carotenoids
- Limits the liver’s ability to produce LDL cholesterol because of the presence of Tocotrienols when consumed in the form of leaves
- Can help improve digestion because the Tocotrienols found in the leaf version of achiote which act as digestive aid
By : Natural Health News
