Claudia Cabrera, 25 years old and from Tinajo, Lanzarote, graduated just a few days ago in Chemistry from the University of La Laguna and when she had to think about the subject of her Final Degree Project, she didn't hesitate for a moment. Entitled Extraction and study of carminic acid in Dactylopius coccus and Dactylopius opuntiae, this project analyzes the differences between both types of cochineal and tries to find a solution to the Mexican cochineal that is destroying the prickly pears of Lanzarote and other islands of the Canary Islands.
From the 19th century onwards, Lanzarote became a major producer of cochineal thanks to the natural dye that could be extracted from it, carmine. In fact, Cabrera says that she was surprised to learn through the various documents she has read that in Lanzarote people used to pay with sacks of cochineal in a kind of barter.
Although its commercialization is decreasing until it almost disappears, the prickly pears and the cochineal are a typical element of the island's landscape that has been affected by the arrival of the Mexican cochineal (Dactylopius opuntiae) that began in La Palma and then spread to Tenerife and Lanzarote.
As Claudia Cabrera explains, "it is a species of cochineal that is not able to coexist with the prickly pear, as the cochineal we have known all our lives does (Dactylopius coccus), and what it does is kill the plant because it adheres to the stomata and asphyxiates it because it does not let it breathe".
The young woman says that she wanted to do this work because "she loves prickly pears, prickly pears in summer and she was seeing the problem that exists, so my mother encouraged me to do my bit to find some difference between the two cochineals in order to save the landscape".
Lack of research to eradicate it
The study of the "bad cochineal" to know how to eradicate it in Lanzarote is of vital importance to preserve the prickly pears and, with it, the landscape of the island. In this sense, Cabrera says that "in Lanzarote there is no research being done on it, but there is in other countries such as Portugal and Italy, but we are interested in it here, in the archipelago because there is no commitment to research on this issue or, at least, I have not seen it".
The young woman points out that small investigations like hers or the commitment to larger ones "could achieve progress in the short term because it is simply a matter of finding a key difference between the two in order to achieve selective pesticides for this type of cochineal".
"I ask and implore that investment be made in research, but not only for the prickly pears, but for the cochineal itself because it has enormous value," she says. And the fact is that carminic acid, as the chemist indicates, is found in various products that we consume daily such as sausage, soft drinks, etc. "I think that the cochineal is not given the value it should be," she says.
Such are the Lanzarote native's desire to continue with this research to eradicate the "bad cochineal" that she assures that "I would work on this project until the end because it is something that I am passionate about, I have enjoyed doing this final degree project".
Her impetus to carry out this research to finish her Chemistry degree has led her to meet people like Chana Perera, who helped her in the work by providing her with insects of Dactylopius coccus (good cochineal) because "there are hardly any left in Lanzarote", something she is very grateful for. She also contacted other personal sources of great help such as the biologist Juan Cazorla.
Differences between Dactylopius coccus and Dactylopius opuntiae (bad cochineal)
In the research carried out by the young woman, on the one hand there are the morphological differences in relation to size. "The bad cochineal is much smaller but has a waxy coating formed by white filaments that makes it much more resistant to predators than the good cochineal," she explains.
For this reason, she analyzed in the laboratory the percentage of wax that there was in each one because the Dactylopius coccus also has that layer but it is not so dense and, on the other hand, the percentage of carminic acid (the dye) was checked. "The good cochineal has a higher amount, almost double, of this substance that the insect itself secretes to protect itself from predators, so we have wondered why the bad cochineal secretes less of this substance than the other," she declares.
In relation to this, Cabrera points out that "the bad cochineal itself has taken for granted that an external protection is better than carminic acid", something that can serve as a line of research to find a solution to this plague. "If we find out how the insect is generating that outer layer and create a selective pesticide so that it is not able to generate that coating, we leave it defenseless against predators," she details.
One of the most curious facts that Claudia Cabrera points out is that "the bad cochineal has not yet reached the town of Tinajo", as it has in various areas such as Guatiza, Tías, Mala, Arrieta or Tahíche. "It would be interesting to do a study in the Tinajo area because there is a possibility that there is some prickly pear resistant to the bad cochineal," she concludes.
