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Colours of food and drink

Colour added to what is eaten and drunk.

FamilyRedOrangeYellowGreenTurquoiseBluePurplePinkBrownWhiteGreyBlackGold
KindBasic colourNamed shadePigmentDyeColour named from natureTraditional colourNational or team colourHeraldic colourStandard colourScreen colour
Made fromMineral or earthPlantAnimalSyntheticLight only (no pigment)
Yellow Turmeric A golden yellow dye and spice from the rhizome of a tropical plantColour named from nature · 🇮🇳 India +5 Red Rubia A group of plants whose roots once dyed cloth and paint a lasting redColour named from nature · 🇪🇬 Egypt +5 Orange Annatto A yellow-orange dye and flavour from the seeds of the achiote treeDye · 🇲🇽 Mexico +5 Brown Catechu A brown plant extract used as a dye, tannin, and preservativeColour named from nature · 🇯🇵 Japan +2 Red Dragon's blood A deep red resin from several plants, used as pigment, dye and varnish since ancient timesColour named from nature · 🇮🇳 India +3 Red Betalain Red and yellow plant pigments found in beets, bougainvillea, and cactiPigment Brown Juglone A plant compound that gives deep brown-orange colour to cloth, ink and foodPigment Yellow Anthoxanthin A group of plant pigments ranging from white to yellow, used in foods and dyesPigment Yellow Saffronزعفران A golden-yellow colour from the dried stigmas of the saffron crocus flowerColour named from nature · 🇮🇷 Iran +5 Yellow Safflower A thistle-like plant whose petals yield red and yellow dyesColour named from nature · 🇪🇬 Egypt +4 Brown Caramel A golden-brown colour and sweet made by heating sugar until it brownsNamed shade · 🇫🇷 France +2 Orange Annatto A natural orange-red dye from the seeds of a tropical shrubColour named from nature · 🇲🇽 Mexico +5 Red Tormentil red A red dye for leather made from the root of the tormentil plantDye · 🇺🇦 Ukraine Orange Carotene The orange pigment found in carrots and many fruits and vegetablesPigment Blue Butterfly pea blue A vivid blue from the butterfly pea flower, used in Asian food and drinkColour named from nature · 🇮🇩 Indonesia +5 Red Lycopene The deep red pigment found in tomatoes and many red fruitsPigment · 🇺🇸 United States +2 Red Rose madder A red dye and pigment from the roots of a climbing plantDye · 🇮🇳 India +4 Yellow Curcumin The bright yellow pigment found in turmeric rootPigment Yellow Lutein A yellow-orange plant pigment used in food and supplementsPigment · 🇺🇸 United States +2 Brown Catechu A reddish-brown dye and extract from the heartwood of Senegalia catechuDye · 🇮🇳 India +3 Yellow Tagetes patula dye A golden yellow dye and spice made from French marigold flowersColour named from nature · 🇲🇽 Mexico +3 Orange Flavin mononucleotide An orange-red food colour and biomolecule made from vitamin B2Pigment · 🇺🇸 United States Yellow Zeaxanthin A yellow pigment found in corn, saffron, paprika and many plantsPigment Red Alkanet A Mediterranean plant whose root gives a red dye used since ancient timesColour named from nature · 🇺🇦 Ukraine +2 Red Betanin A red food dye made from beets and other plantsPigment Yellow Cosmos sulphureus dye An orange-yellow dye from the flowers of the Cosmos sulphureus plantColour named from nature · 🇲🇽 Mexico +5 Purple and violet Turnsole A blue-purple dye once prized for manuscripts and textilesDye · 🇮🇳 India +2 Orange Violaxanthin An orange pigment found in many plants and used as a food colouring in some countriesPigment · 🇦🇺 Australia +1 Orange Crocin The deep red pigment that gives saffron its colourPigment Red Red yeast rice红曲米 A vivid reddish purple rice coloured by a special mould, used in food and medicineColour named from nature · 🇨🇳 China +3 Blue Vaccinium bracteatum dye A bluish-violet dye from the leaves of an Asian bilberry shrubDye · 🇨🇳 China +2 Blue Genipin A natural compound used to make blue pigment from gardenia fruitColour named from nature #D71345 Carthamin A red pigment and dye obtained from safflower flowersPigment · 🇪🇬 Egypt +1 Red Phlobaphene A group of reddish, water-insoluble plant pigments found in bark and seedsPigment Brown Gambier A yellow-brown plant extract used as dye, tannin and traditional medicineDye · 🇮🇩 Indonesia +4 Yellow Bisdemethoxycurcumin A yellow pigment and curcuminoid found in turmeric rootPigment Yellow Zafferano dell'Aquila A prized saffron grown on the Navelli plateau in Abruzzo, ItalyColour named from nature · 🇮🇹 Italy Yellow Zeinoxanthin A rare yellow carotenoid found in corn and linked to eye healthPigment Yellow Borututu A yellow colouring from the bark of an African tree, used in Ghana and AngolaColour named from nature · 🇦🇴 Angola +1 Purple and violet Chrozophoridin The blue-purple dye compound from the fruit of Chrozophora tinctoriaDye · 🇫🇷 France +2 Purple and violet Purple sweet potato color A natural purple food colouring from specially bred sweet potatoesDye · 🇯🇵 Japan Yellow Gamboge (from Garcinia cambogioides) A yellow resin from the Garcinia cambogioides tree, used in food, paint and medicineColour named from nature · 🇮🇳 India +2 Purple and violet Turnsole A medieval dye from Chrozophora tinctoria, shifting from blue to red with acidityDye Orange Argythamnia heterantha A Mexican shrub whose orange seed endosperm colours and flavours foodColour named from nature · 🇲🇽 Mexico

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly palette

Every Monday: seven colours you may not know, what the world is wearing this week, and one idea about colour.