Two sources of red
The red of Anatolian carpets comes from madder, the face paint of Amazonian peoples from achiote. This shared red is also this site’s main colour.
Side by side
| Madder | Achiote | |
|---|---|---|
| Latin name | Rubia tinctorum | Bixa orellana |
| Family | Rubiaceae | Bixaceae |
| Region | Anatolia and the Mediterranean | Amazon, Andes |
| Part used | Root | Seeds |
| Use | Ritual and shamanic, Healing | Ritual and shamanic, Food, Healing |
| Scientific evidence | Traditional | Traditional |
| Safety | Caution | Generally safe |
| Legal status in Türkiye | No specific restriction | No specific restriction |
Madder
The red of carpets and kilims comes from its root; the dye spread worldwide as “Turkey red”. In folk use it is sometimes boiled for kidney stones.
In the 18th century, Turkey red dyeing was an industrial secret Europe tried hard to crack.
Science: Contains alizarin and lucidin. Lucidin is genotoxic, so madder is not used as a medicine.
Safety: Not recommended to drink; some of its compounds caused cancer in animal studies. It turns urine and milk red.
Achiote
The red coating of the seeds is used as face and body paint; it protects from sun and insects and marks identity in ceremonies. Tsáchila men in Ecuador dye their hair red with achiote.
Gives colour and a mild flavour to food in Peru and across Latin America.
Science: Its dye (bixin) is a common food colouring worldwide under code E160b, giving cheese and butter their orange colour. Human studies of medicinal uses are few.
Safety: Safe as food; can rarely cause allergy.
Last reviewed: · Türkçe
Other bridges
- Same molecule, two rituals
- One plant, the evil eye on two continents
- Sacred resin and smoke
- Healing with a stinging herb
- Two roots, two power foods
- The dark side of tropane alkaloids
- Cleansing with smoke
- Sacred teacher or simple pleasure?
- Two traditions that beat malaria
- Dye written on the body
- Two continents’ vitamin C stores
- Leaf and stem against fatigue
- One fruit, two medicines
- Human-shaped roots
- Two cacti of mescaline