Sepia (color)

Sepia is a brown - to gray-black dye is obtained from the ink sac of cuttlefish (octopus ). It was used for dyeing fabrics and as ink for drawing. Today one uses sepia especially for coloring foods, especially pasta ( black pasta, sepia), and in the watercolor painting. The Sepienfarbstoff consists mainly of a gray-black melanin, which is produced from tyrosine via 3,4- dihydroxyphenylalanine ( dopa ), as well as traces of the yellow dye sepiapterin. Melanin is a so-called hetero- polymer, indole -5 ,6 -quinone and indole -5 ,6- quinone carboxylic acid is formed in a ratio of 3:2:1 from dopaquinone. The weak pharmaceutical effect of the dye on the other hand is based on the presence of the pteridine derivative sepiapterin.