Means to culture cochineal insects in an artificial medium
A method is provided for culturing cochineal insects. In accordance with the method, a medium is created ( 101 - 109 ) from a mixture comprising a plant or cactus additive and a polymeric material. The medium is then inoculated ( 111 ) with a species selected from the group consisting of the genus Dactylopius.
1. A method for culturing cochineal insects, comprising:
creating a medium by mixing together a cactus additive and a polysaccharide; and inoculating the medium with a cochineal insect species of the genus Dactylopius.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymer is agar.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medium is curable from a first phase selected from the group consisting of liquid and gelatinous phases to a second hardened phase.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medium is created by:
forming a mixture of the cactus additive and the polymeric material;
heating the mixture; and
cooling the mixture to obtain a hardened mass.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the cooled mixture is combined with a three-dimensional matrix, and wherein the three-dimensional matrix is a porous material.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mixture further comprises corn syrup.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the species is Dactylopius coccus.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medium is maintained at a temperature within the range of about 15° C. to about 35° C. after inoculation, and prior to harvesting the species.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cactus additive is derived from the genus Opuntia.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cactus additive is derived from a species selected from the group consisting of Opuntia amyclaea, Opuntia atropes, Opuntia cantabrigiensis, Opuntia brasilienis, Opuntia ficus-indica, Opuntia fuliginosa, Opuntia jaliscana, Opuntia leucotricha, Opuntia lindheimeri, Opuntia microdasys, Opuntia megacantha, Opuntia pilifera, Opuntia robusta, Opuntia sarca, Opuntia schikendantzii, Opuntia stricta, Opuntia streptacantha , and Opuntia tomentosa.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cactus additive is derived from Opuntia ficus-indica.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cactus additive is selected from the group consisting of cactus nectar, cactus pulp and cactus powder.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medium is inoculated with the species when the species is in the nymph stage.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
removing the species from the medium when the insects are from about 70 to about 110 days old.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising drying the insects to about 20% to about 40% of their original body weight.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
a) pulverizing the dried insects;
b) boiling the pulverized insects in a solution selected from the group consisting of solutions of ammonia and solutions of sodium carbonate; and
c) filtering the boiled solution to remove the insoluble portion thereof.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein a material having the chemical composition
M + 2 SO 4 .Q 3+ 2 (SO 4 ) 3 .nH 2 O
is added to the filtered solution to precipitate aluminum carminate therefrom, and wherein M is selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and NH 4 , and wherein Q is selected from the group consisting of Al, Cr and Fe.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medium is dried before it is inoculated.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medium is dried after it is inoculated.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the inoculated medium is dried so that it is in the form of a chip.
21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the dried medium is pulverized to generate a particulate mass, wherein the particulate mass contains cochineal dye content, and wherein the cochineal dye content is chemically extracted from the particulate mass.