Bixa orellana is a small but fairly fast-growing evergreen shrub or small tree growing from 2 - 8 metres tall. The bole can be 10 - 30cm in diameter.
This plant is very important to local people, providing a wide range of foods and materials.
It is commonly grown in many areas of the tropics, especially the Americas, as an ornamental and for the red substance surrounding the seeds, widely used as a dye, food coloring, flavoring, and insect repellent.

Known Hazards

None known

Habitat

Coastal and inland thickets.
Tropical forest.

Cultivation Status

Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Annatto requires a frost-free, warm, humid climate. It can grow at elevations from sea level up to 2,200 metres in tropical to subtropical climates where a mean annual rainfall of 2,500 - 5,000mm is distributed throughout the year.
It can withstand droughts of up to 4 months but thrives best with well-distributed rainfall and a dry season for seed ripening.
Prefers a mean annual temperature in the range 28 - 32°C, with a mean maximum temperature of 22 - 27°C and a mean minimum temperature of 18 - 26°C.
An easily grown plant, it succeeds on almost all soil types, preferring moist, well-drained neutral or slightly alkaline soil in a sunny position.
Prefers a slightly acid soil according to another report.
Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 7.5, tolerating 4.5 - 8.5.
Grows into a larger tree when planted in deeper, more fertile soil rich in organic matter.
Commences fruiting when quite young.
Trees can bear fruit when only 2 years old.
Seed-grown plants take longer to flower than vegetatively propagated ones, and do so sparingly. Under favorable conditions, fruiting commences 18 months from planting or earlier, and full crops of seeds are obtained after 3 - 4 years.
Seed yields reach their peak when trees are 4 - 5 years old, with productivity lasting up to 20 years.
Seed yields from 0.5 - 5 tonnes/ha per year have been reported, usually between 800 - 1,500 kg/ha.
20 - 50g of dye can be obtained from 1 kilo of seed.
In Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, flowering occurs mainly in spring, and fruiting chiefly in summer.
In some areas, the tree can produce flushes of fruits several times a year.

Edible Uses

The seeds are relatively tasteless.
Briefly steeped in hot oil, which is then strained and cooled for use as a flavoring in various dishes.
Whole seeds can be ground into a paste with other spices for a more pronounced flavor.
Seeds have high nutritive value, containing about 5% fatty oil and 13% protein.
Ground seed is red and used to color foods.
Yellow color from seed coat is used as a food coloring in margarines, etc.
Harmless, non-carcinogenic dye.

Medicinal

Medical properties of annatto are poorly understood.
Bitter, astringent, purgative herb reputedly destroys intestinal worms, lowers fever, improves digestion, and has expectorant effects.
Decoction of leaves used to treat dysentery and reduce vomiting during pregnancy.
Leaves applied to head and sprains to relieve aches.
Decoction gargled to treat mouth and throat infections.
Leaves used in baths to relieve muscular aches, fevers, colic, or expel worms in children.
Fresh shoots steeped in water used as an eyewash for inflamed eyes.
Sap from leaf petiole soaked in hot water with rum used to remove secretions from encrusted eyelids (blepharitis treatment).
Young shoots applied locally as a poultice on abscesses.
Roots digestive and diuretic.
Decoction taken orally to control asthma.
Infusion of root in water and rum used to treat venereal diseases.
Tea from root treats oliguria and jaundice.
Seeds used as aphrodisiac, emmenagogue, expectorant, and vermifuge.
Treats asthma and nasal cavity problems.
Macerated seed decoction taken orally for relief of fevers.
Seeds in syrup treat pharyngitis and bronchitis.
Ground seeds applied to burns to prevent blistering and scarring.
Seeds harvested as fruits split open, dried for later use, or soaked in hot water, pressed into cakes for medicines and dyes.
Fruit pulp astringent drink treats cancer, dysentery, kidney infections, and applied as skin rub to prevent sores.
Dye from seed coat used as antidote for prussic acid poisoning from poorly treated Manihot esculenta.
Sap from bark and crushed leaves treat skin rashes.
Decoction of bark treats malaria, angina, and asthma.
Leaves contain cyanidine and ellagic acid.

Agroforestry Uses

None Recorded

Other Uses

Red dye annatto obtained from fruit.
Dye from seed coat used to color cloth, cosmetic for painting skin and lipstick.
Cosmetic production includes nail gloss, hair oil, lipstick, and soap; also used in floor wax, furniture, and shoe polish.
Dye fades rapidly exposed to light and air.
Waxy substance in seed coat paralyzes mammalian intestinal parasites.
Bixin insect repellent in India.
Red dye applied to skin repels mosquitoes and biting insects.
Annatto paste filters UV rays, protects skin from excessive sunburn.
Bark yields water-soluble gum similar to gum arabic.
Seeds have pleasant-smelling essential oil.
Soft wood friction starts fire.
Bark fiber used for cordage.
Sapwood white, heartwood light brown or yellowish; soft, light (specific gravity 0.4), porous, weak, not durable wood.
Stems and branches fuel.

Propagation

Seed usually grown from freshly gathered ripe pods, germinate better than dry ones.
Mature seeds from fresh fruits germinate readily in 7 - 10 days under moist conditions.
Seed sown directly in field, 2 - 5 seeds per hole in well-prepared soil, beginning of rainy season. After germination, retain one seedling per hole.
Seedlings also raised in trays, transferred to 1 kg bags soil mixture, 3 - 4 months nursery before field transplant.
Cleaned, sun-dried seeds retain viability over one year; germination rate falls to 12% in 3 years.
Cuttings in sand, hardwood cuttings of 8mm or more diameter root easily, root hormone hardwood cuttings, roots in abundance in 7 - 9 weeks. Rooted cuttings transfer pots or bags, nursery, transplanted field 3 months.
Propagating cuttings select high-yielding, rapidly growing cultivars flower early, profusely bear fruit within 2 years.
Air layering.
Budding.