Amaranth (AMR)

Amaranth is a dark red to purple azo dye once used as a food dye and to color cosmetics,It usually comes as a trisodium salt. It has the appearance of reddish-brown, dark red to purple water-soluble powder that decomposes at 120 °C without melting. Its water solution has absorption maximum at about 520 nm. Amaranth is an anionic dye. It can be applied to natural and synthetic fibers, leather, paper, and phenol-formaldehyde resins. As a food additive it has E number E123. Like all azo dyes, Amaranth was, during the middle of the 20th century, made from coal tar; modern synthetics are more likely to be made from petroleum byproducts. Amaranth's use is still legal in some countries, notably in the United Kingdom where it is most commonly used to give Glacé cherries their distinctive colour. Its name was taken from amaranth grain, a plant distinguished by its red color and edible protein-rich seeds.