The word urucum comes from the Tupi-Guarani language transliterated uru-ku and means red. Its scientific name, Bixa orellana L, was given in homage to Francisco de Orellana (1490-1546), a member of the expedition of Francisco Pizarro and the first Spanish explorer that sailed the Amazon river. From the earliest times, the natives had used the dye portion of the urucum seeds to color their hunting, fishing, clothing and war ornaments, and body artifact in red.

The first reference of the urucum was when Pero Vaz de Caminha sent a letter to Dom Manuel, referring to the discovery of Brazil. In one passage he says:

“…and as they said that they had gone there, they played with them. On this day we saw them more closely and more at our will, for we were almost all mixed up: some were colored from those tinctures, others of halves, others of as much feature as in cloth, and all with pierced lips, many with bones in them, and quite without bones. Some of them carried green hedges, trees, which in color wanted to look like chestnut trees, though smaller. And they were full of small red grains, which, crushing them between their fingers, made very red dye, of which they walked red. And the more they got wet, the redder they got. "
The artisan processes of obtaining the colorings of the urucum seeds, learned from the Indians, continued for a long time. FREIRE, in his 1936 publication (Light Information on Urucum Culture and Industry) cites the fabrication of what he calls "urucum breads" as follows: "The seeds harvested are soon thrown into a trough, they boil with boiling water; the mass is often stirred frequently to separate the waxy forehead from the seeds. After a few days the mass is passed by a sieve, to extreme the dye substance. The liquid is allowed to rest for a week in order to ferment and to deposit the coloring matter. After this time the clear water is removed. The dyeing material that settled is then distributed in suitable containers, so that excessive moisture evaporates in the shade. When the substance acquires the consistency of the glazier's mass, it is formed into loaves that are wrapped in banana leaf. This is the urucum bread that is exported in great quantity from Brazil”.

In Brazil, among the natural additives, urucum has greater economic and social relevance, since from its seeds can be extracted natural dyes of various shades, from pale yellow to red brick. In addition, the dispersion of crops in almost all the national territory gives the cultivation a good perspective in the market of natural dyes.


THE AGROSPICE OFFER
Agrospice provides excellent quality urucum, in the desired standards, according to the classification below:


Type 1 - Humidity higher than 10%, bixin content above 2.5%, impurities less than 5.0% and absence of foreign matter;

Type 2 - Moisture from 10% to 14%, bixin content from 2% to 2.5%, impurities less than 5% and presence of foreign matter;

Type 3 - Moisture higher than 14%, bixin content less than 1.8%, impurities higher than 5% and presence of foreign matter. The latter type is not specified.


INTERNATIONAL MARKET
In the international market, it is estimated that world production is 10 thousand tons and that represents 70% of all production. Peru is the main producer (35%) followed by Kenya, Brazil and India (QUAN, 2002). Also, Peru and Kenya are the largest exporters, while the United States, Europe and Japan are the biggest consumers of the product.

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