JaguaTattoos.com » Biochemistry http://www.jaguatattoos.com Your Interactive, Informative and Educational Jagua Body Art Website Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:46:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 The Chemical Constituents of Jagua http://www.jaguatattoos.com/articles/2008/05/21/the-chemical-constituents-of-jagua/ http://www.jaguatattoos.com/articles/2008/05/21/the-chemical-constituents-of-jagua/#comments Wed, 21 May 2008 13:01:58 +0000 Aileen http://www.jaguatattoos.com/blog/2008/02/21/the-chemical-constituents-of-jagua/ principallyJagua Tattoo Products are manufactured from Genipa Americana Extract, which is quite simply a jagua fruit extract that retains the otherwise degenerative colouring properties of the jagua fruit itself. The naturally occuring chemical constituents of jagua are often referred to as ‘Biochemicals’ or ‘Phytochemicals’, because they are occur naturally within the plant matter. There are many phytochemicals present in a jagua tree, but for the purposes of jagua body art we are primarily concerned with those phytochemicals found within the jagua fruit itself.

The Key Phytochemicals in Jagua Fruit are:

  • Sugars
  • D-Mannitol
  • Tannin
  • Malic Acid
  • Genipin
  • Caffeine
  • Potassium

The ‘Genipin’ is principally responsible for the colourant property of the jagua fruit.  Though the tannin and the caffeine seem to have a complimentary beneficial effect. Fortunately the jagua extraction process preserves the colouring content so well that you don’t need to be a kitchen chemist to enhance the colouring properties to get a great colour jagua tattoo!

Other Phytochemicals in Jagua Fruit Leaves are:

  • Aluminium
  • Ascorbic Acid
  • Ash
  • Boron
  • Copper
  • Fibre
  • Fat
  • Genipic Acid
  • Genipinic Acid
  • Glycerides
  • Iron
  • Magnesium
  • Manganese
  • Niacin
  • Nitrogen
  • Phosphorous
  • Protein
  • Riboflavin
  • Sodium
  • Thiamin
  • Water
  • Zinc

This list may be updated in the future as and when new phytochemicals are discovered.

]]> http://www.jaguatattoos.com/articles/2008/05/21/the-chemical-constituents-of-jagua/feed/ 0 Genipin ~ From Genipa Americana (jagua fruit) http://www.jaguatattoos.com/articles/2008/02/20/genipin-from-genipa-americana-jagua-fruit/ http://www.jaguatattoos.com/articles/2008/02/20/genipin-from-genipa-americana-jagua-fruit/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:40:11 +0000 Aileen http://www.jaguatattoos.com/blog/2008/02/20/genipin-from-genipa-americana-jagua-fruit/ Molecular Illustration for GenepinGenipin is the phytochemical constiuent of jagua fruit, (and hence jagua products) that is responsible for creating the jagua stain. The higher the genipin content of the jagua fruit, the deeper the resulting stain produced by the jagua product will be. A higher genipin content is found in jagua fruit growing native within the biodiverse rainforest’s of Latin America, compared to that found in ‘jenipapo’ (common Brazilian name for the jagua fruit) which is cultivated in parts of Brazil. Although the fruiting trees are still the same species, it seems that the much larger fruit cultivated for the local food and beverage industry in Brazil contain less genipin in their unripe stages of growth.

Chemical Formula: C11H14O5
Molecular Weight: 226.23g/mol
CAS Number: 6902-77-8

Substance Name(s):

  • Genipin

Systematic Name(s):

  • Cyclopenta(c)pyran-4-carboxylic acid, 1,4a-alpha,5,7a-alpha-tetrahydro-1-hydroxy-7-(hydroxymethyl)-, methyl ester

For research purposes it is always worth including as many names and synonyms as possible. Although for the most part jagua, genipa americana and genipin are used in key documentation. You may also want to research the many different common names for jagua too.

Substance Synonyms:

  • Genipine
  • Genipa
  • Genipap
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