Lac Pigments: Multitude of properties and applications

A great number of natural products have been isolated from insect species having a remarkable variety of compounds with unusual structures enabling strikingly diversified usage of them, such as in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals or in food industry. With increasing environmental awareness for sustainable livelihood, the demand of natural products possessing various pharmacological properties has increased because of its biodegradability as well as the renewable source of production. Anthraquinones are of particular interest in this context as the compound is very widespread in occurrence and can be found in a wide range of taxa, encompassing lower prokaryotes such as Streptomyces spp. to higher and much developed eukaryotes such as fungi, lichens, plants and insects. These anthraqunoid compounds are also interestingly studied for their wide range of applications which is dependent upon the various properties they possess.