catechu

catechu or cutch, extract from the heartwood of Acacia catechu, a leguminous tree of the pulse family, native to India and Myanmar. Catechu is a fast brown dye used for various shades of brown and olive, including the familiar khaki, and also in tanning. White cutch is a synonym for gambier, a leaf extract of a shrub (Uncaria gambir) of the madder family, which is similarly used.

Catechu (also known as cachou, cutch, cashoo, or Japan earth) is an extract of any of several species of Acacia—but especially Acacia catechu—produced by boiling the wood in water and evaporating the resulting brew.

Catechu (called katha in Hindi) is an astringent and has been used since ancient times in Ayurvedic medicine as well as in breath-freshening spice mixtures. Black Catechu has recently also been utilized by Blavod Drinks Ltd. to dye their vodka black.

Also called cutch, it is a brown dye used for tanning and dyeing and for preserving fishing nets and sails.

White cutch, also known as gambier, gambeer, or gambir, has the same uses.

External links

• Source of Natural Catechu
• An OCR'd version of the US Dispensatory by Remington and Wood, 1918.