Researchers are reporting a step-wise biorefinery approach in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering that uses the whole cob of purple corn to produce a dye and a possible nutraceutical with the pigments.
Ochre, one of Earth's oldest naturally occurring materials, was often used as a vivid red paint in ancient rock art known as pictographs across the world. Despite its broad use throughout human history and a modern focus on how the artistic symbolism is interpreted, little research exists on the paint itself and how it was produced.
Scientists led by a research professor at the University of Missouri are using archaeological science to understand how ochre paint was created by hunter-gatherers in North America to produce rock art.
