Annatto seed
Yellow-orange to dark orange. Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making primary source, Wholesale Supplies Plus supplier or guide
Opens the calculator’s starter recipe, 1000 g of oils, with this additive at the dose it fills in, ready to change.
What it is
Annatto is the seed of Bixa orellana, sold whole or as a powder. Infused in oil, it gives colours up to a dark orange.
Agricultural Research Communication Centre primary source, Bramble Berry supplier or guide, Wholesale Supplies Plus supplier or guide
How much
- 1–4 tsp per pound of oils filled in Wholesale Supplies Plus supplier or guide
- 1 tsp per pound of oils Bramble Berry supplier or guide
The calculator fills in 1 tsp per pound of oils: 4.6 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
When and how
- Usually: into the oils.
- Infuse it in some of the recipe’s oil ahead of time, then strain it out.
Bramble Berry supplier or guide
What it does to the recipe
- Infused and strained out: it adds nothing to the batch weight.
Worth knowing
- Too much colours the lather. Bramble Berry supplier or guide
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 2.09 g (1.92–2.27 g)
- 1 tbsp ≈ 6.28 g (5.77–6.8 g)
- 1 cup ≈ 101 g (92.3–109 g)
Agricultural Research Communication Centre primary source
INCI name
CI 75120 (Colour Index number)
- CAS number
- 1393-63-1, 542-40-5
- EC number
- 215-735-4, 208-810-8
- US colour additive name
- Annatto
Recipes that use it
Guides that discuss it
Sources
David Fisher, The Complete Photo Guide to Soap Making (Creative Publishing International, 2018), p. 20: dyes "give a full range of hues—from subtle to bright and bold", but "can bleed between layers or swirls of soap, especially in melt-and-pour soap. Some are not stable in cold process soap, so test them first"; oxides "are very stable and strong in soap". Natural colours, pp. 82–84. In an infused oil: "Annatto: yellow-orange"; "Alkanet: light to deep purple, depending on the amount used"; "Paprika: orange-peach". In the lye solution: "Indigo: light to deep blue"; "Madder root: pinkish-red"; "Rose clay: deep rose pink". Added to the oils or at trace: "Activated charcoal: light gray to deep black"; "Black walnut hull (ground): speckled brown, also an exfoliant"; "Calendula flower petals (whole or ground): nice, warm yellow"; "Carrots (puréed or juiced): muted orange"; "Cinnamon: reddish tan to brown"; "Cocoa powder: tan to brown"; "Cucumber: pale yellow-green"; "Rosehips (ground): speckled reddish brown"; "Sage: muted green"; "Spirulina: pastel green/blue-green". For "a bright, white bar of soap": "Add titanium dioxide: about 1 teaspoon per 1 pound (454 g) of oils."
Wholesale Supplies Plus, annatto seed powder: infused, "around 1 teaspoon per pound of oils ... 4 teaspoons" for dark orange.
Bramble Berry, annatto seed: "1 tsp. of seeds in 16 oz. of oil", infused about 2 hours; with too much, "you will get colored lather".
Physical properties of annatto (Bixa orellana) seed, doi:10.18805/ag.D-5731: whole-seed bulk density 393–464 kg/m³.