Tara
Latin: Caesalpinia tinctoria and Caesalpinia spinosa
Common name: Spiny holdback
In the peruan forest there are 2–3 m tall trees, Caesalpinia tinctoria. They grow wild at 1 000–3 000 m above sea level in the deep river walleys of the Andes. The podded fruits are gathered twice a year and yields 20–40 kg at the most.The tara tree bears fruit for 85 years. The pod and the beans
contain
a high percentage of tannic acid, 40–60 %. The pods are extracted
to a powder that is used as a tanning agent. For a long time tara has been
a well-known tanning agent used for exclusive tanning of skins because it
gives a fair and light skin. Tara also has many other fields of application,
such as medicine, food chemistry and the dyeing industry.Tara trees are grown in order to prevent soil erosion; the widespread root system binds the soil. 80 % of all tara that is produced in the world comes from Peru. Tara is called "the green gold of Peru" because of its wide range of application. Today, tara extract is being marketed together with the other vegetable tanning agents as a non-toxic and renewable alternative to chrome. Many tanneries are shifting from chrome tanning to vegetable tanning in order to prevent the destruction of our environment.
To read more about tara, see ALNICOLSA del Perú S.A.C. (in Spanish).
