Editing Alkanna tinctoria

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{For|other plants called alkanet|Alkanet}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Alkanna tinctoria2.jpg
| image_caption = Dyer's bugloss
| genus = Alkanna
| species = tinctoria
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]) Tausch
}}

'''''Alkanna tinctoria''''', the '''dyer's alkanet'''<ref name=BSBI07>{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-10-17}}</ref> or simply '''alkanet''', is a herbaceous [[flowering plant]] in the [[borage]] family [[Boraginaceae]]. Its roots are used to produce a red [[dye]]. The plant is also known as '''dyers' bugloss''', '''orchanet''', '''Spanish bugloss''', or '''Languedoc bugloss'''. It is native to the [[Mediterranean region]]. ''A. tinctoria'' has 30 chromosomes and is regarded as a dysploid at the tetraploid level (4x + 2).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ahmad |first1=Muhammad |last2=Leroy |first2=Thibault |last3=Krigas |first3=Nikos |last4=Temsch |first4=Eva M. |last5=Weiss-Schneeweiss |first5=Hanna |last6=Lexer |first6=Christian |last7=Sehr |first7=Eva Maria |last8=Paun |first8=Ovidiu |title=Spatial and Ecological Drivers of Genetic Structure in Greek Populations of Alkanna tinctoria (Boraginaceae), a Polyploid Medicinal Herb |journal=Frontiers in Plant Science |date=14 July 2021 |volume=12 |pages=706574 |doi=10.3389/fpls.2021.706574|pmid=34335669 |pmc=8317432 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

''A. tinctoria'' has a bright blue flower. The plant has a root of blackish appearance externally, but blue-red inside, with a whitish core. The root produces a fine red colouring material, which has been used as a dye in the Mediterranean region since antiquity. The dyestuff in its roots is soluble in alcohol, ether, and oils, but is insoluble in water. It is used to give colour to [[wine]]s and [[tincture|alcoholic tinctures]], to [[vegetable oil]]s, and to [[varnish]]es.

Powdered and mixed with oil, the alkanet root is used as a [[wood stain]]. When mixed into an oily environment, it imparts a [[crimson]] color to the oil, which when applied to wood moves the wood's color towards dark-red-brown (resembling that of [[rosewood]]), and accentuates the grain of the wood.<ref>"Alkanets" in [http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/alkan024.html ''A Modern Herbal''], by Mrs. M. Grieve, year 1931.</ref>

Alkanet is also traditionally used in Indian food under the name ''ratan jot'', and lends its red colour to some versions of the curry dish ''[[rogan josh]]''. In Australia, alkanet is approved for use as a food colouring, but in the European Union, it is not.

It has been used as colorant for [[lipstick]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sYYIAAAAQAAJ&dq=alkanet%20oil&pg=PA166 ''The Complete Servant''], by Samuel and Sarah Adams, year 1826.</ref> and [[rouge (cosmetics)|rouge]].

In alkaline environments, alkanet dye is blue; in the presence of acids it gradually changes to crimson.<ref>"Alkanet" in [http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/usdisp/alkanna.html ''Dispensatory of the United States of America'', year 1918], edited by Joseph P. Remington and Horatio C. Wood.</ref>  The colour is red at pH 6.1, purple at 8.8 and blue at pH 10. 

The colouring agent in ''A. tinctoria'' root has been chemically isolated and named [[alkannin]].

In folk medicine, it is also used to treat [[abscess]]es and [[inflammation]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Handbook of medicinal herbs|last=Duke|first=James A.|date=2002|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=0849312841|edition=2nd|location=Boca Raton, FL|oclc=48876592}}</ref>

In English in the late medieval era, the name alkanet meant ''A. tinctoria''.<ref>Alkanet in the [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=id&id=MED1147&egs=all ''Middle English Dictionary'']</ref> In the centuries since then, the name has come to be used informally for some botanically related other plants; see [[Alkanet]].

==References==
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[[Category:Boraginoideae]]
[[Category:Plant dyes]]
[[Category:Food colorings]]
[[Category:Herbs]]