A3 Bio Section 1!

Mary Pearson 1

Paint Colors from Casein Binders and Food Dyes

Abstract The experiment was intended to nd the vibrancy, deepness, texture, consistency, and hues of paint from pigments made from boiled substances (blueberries, raspberries, carrots, red cabbage), and to nd which milk casein recipe would form the best binder. The substances were boiled in different amounts of water (5 mL and 10 mL) to obtain different vibrancies and consistencies. Distilled white vinegar was added to nonfat milk to separate whey from casein proteins to form quark; the quark was rinsed and mixed with borax to dissolve the curds, forming a syrupy paste. The other casein recipe was mixing powdered milk with water. The pigments were added to both binders separately and compared to the Pantone Color Chart to compare hues and vibrancies. The quark recipe and raspberries provided the most vibrant colors; the powdered milk recipe and carrots formed the least vibrant and lightest hues. Quark is the more useful type of paint binder.

A3 Bio Section 1! Introduction

Mary Pearson 2

There are many different ways to make a paint binder from milk casein, also called quark. Many different companies such as Earth Pigments Co. and the Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co., Inc. sell natural paint made from milk. Adding distilled white vinegar to nonfat milk causes the milk to curdle by isolating the casein protein, separating from the liquid whey in the milk. A cream of hydrated lime and water will dissolve the curds, creating a smooth syrup-like solution that is known as quark (Johnson, 2011). Since the quark is made from natural, fresh ingredients without added preservatives, it only keeps for ten days at the most. Other methods for making a milk casein binder include adding borax to the curds instead of lime to induce hydrolysis to occur (Fraley, 2011). An alternative source of casein is dried nonfat milk. This nonfat milk powder is made from depredating milk that has been removed of most of its fat content. Casein protein is the most abundant protein in nonfat milk powder. Approximately 36% of the milk powder is protein (the other 56% is lactose) (Lee, 2011). Casein is a slow protein; it is released slowly during protein synthesis. When the milk powder is added to water, it can form a paste or liquid.

Dyes can be made from fruit and vegetables by boiling water and placing fruit/vegetables in water to extract the pigments. The fruit/vegetables release some of their pigment into the water. If crushed and added to the pigmented water, a sort of paste can be formed (Reid, 2006), but seeds and innards of berries affect the color of the paste. The amount of water and fruit/vegetables affects the hue, vibrance, deepness, and thickness of the dye substance.

A3 Bio Section 1!

Mary Pearson 3

I intend to nd the vibrancy, deepness, texture, consistency, and number of hues I can make from different amounts of water and from the two different casein paint binders, with the juice of the substances recorded as a control. I will use 5 mL and 10 mL of water for my pigment trials. I will also test both methods of making a casein binder to test which binder will make the most vibrant color of each type of fruit/vegetable. I predict that the less water used will create a more vibrant color, a deeper shade, and a thicker dye substance, and that the binder made from powdered milk will make the most vibrant color in all paint mixtures. I predict that powdered milk will be smooth and moderately thick, and the quark will be chunky and very thick.

A3 Bio Section 1! Materials and Methods

Mary Pearson 4

Casein binders and fruit/vegetable pigments were produced in the kitchen of the Pearson residence on November 2, 2013 from 2:00PM-10:00PM. .47 liters of skim milk were left to sit out until they were room temperature, at which point they were mixed with 59 milliliters of distilled white vinegar. This mixture was set aside for one hour and then was strained through a cheese cloth and rinsed three times with water to create quark. Five grams of borax were added to the quark. After fteen minutes, the mixture had become translucent white and syrupy, ready to use.

118 grams of skim milk powder was mixed with 118 milliliters of water to create a thick liquid.

Fruits/vegetables were boiled in a glass cup with 5 mL of water and then 10 mL of water. The glass cup was placed inside a metal pan of boiling water that was on the stove to maintain its boiling state. Fruits/vegetables released colors into the water, and then were removed. The colored water was used as dye. The fruits/vegetables used were red cabbage, raspberries, blueberries, and carrots.

The different colored liquids were added in equal parts to the the different binders to create paint. This paint was then applied to a piece of paper in table format. The colors were compared to the Pantone Color Chart and were assigned numbers based on their hue and vibrancy.

A3 Bio Section 1! Results

Mary Pearson 5

Vibrancy in different substances types (Blueberries, Carrots, Raspberries, Red Cabbage) depending on their binder type [Juice (no binder), Quark, Powdered Milk) and amount of water (5 mL, 10 mL). Numbers reported represent the hue and vibrancy of the paint colors based on the Pantone Color Chart. 5 mL of Water
Substance Type Blueberries Carrots Raspberries Red Cabbage

10 mL of Water Powdered Milk Juice 444 386 257.3 317 Quark 409 124.5 251 421 Powdered Milk 423 127 261 434

Juice 257.3 393 258.2 324

Quark 264 131 247 420

422 120.5 257 436

Juice

Quark Blueberries

Powdered Milk

450.0 416.7 Pantone Color Value 383.3 350.0 316.7 283.3 250.0 5 Amount of Water (mL) 10

A3 Bio Section 1! Juice Quark Raspberries 262.0 259.3 Pantone Color Value 256.7 254.0 251.3 248.7 246.0 5 Amount of Water (mL) Carrots 400 352.5 Pantone Color Value 305 257.5 210 162.5 115 5 Amount of Water (mL)

Mary Pearson 6 Powdered Milk

10

10

A3 Bio Section 1! Juice Quark Red Cabbage 450 428.333 Pantone Color Value 406.667 385 363.333 341.667 320 5 Amount of Water (mL)

Mary Pearson 7 Powdered Milk

10

The color values between the different substances are signicantly different. The carrots and red cabbage color values are signicantly similar between their different amounts of water; the raspberries and blueberries had a mix of signicantly similar and signicantly different color values between their different amounts of water.

A3 Bio Section 1! Discussion

Mary Pearson 8

The Pantone Color Values represent the hue and vibrancy of colors. The three paints (whether the juice, quark, or powdered milk) of each substance (blueberries, carrots, raspberries, red cabbage), with the different amounts of water (5mL and 10mL), had very similar hues for most of the types of substances, and the quark was generally more vibrant than the juice, which was generally more vibrant than the powdered milk. The juice was very thin and matte, the quark was syrupy and very shiny when dried, and the powdered milk was very think when wet, but foamy, clumpy, and it cracked and aked when dried. The deepness of the different substances, in order from most deep to least deep, are as follows: raspberries, blueberries, red cabbage, carrots.

Though powdered milk was the thickest mixture when wet, its foaminess, clumpiness, cracked and akey surface, and dull colors, indicated its imprudent use as a paint binder. Whenever used, the powdered milk binder creates paint that will chip off. The juice of the substances proved to have moderately vibrant colors and had little texture, and would be useful in some types of painting (such as water color etc.). The quark proved to be the most useful type of paint binder with its moderately thick consistency when wet, vibrant colors, and slight sheen when dried. Most powdered milk contains 36% casein (Lee, 2011) , where the quark was mostly casein, diluted by only 5 grams of borax (Johnson, 2011). It can be concluded that purer casein makes for a better paint binder.

Many artists use quark as a binder for their painting medium. Adding equal parts quark and pigment will produce the results of this experiment. Other experiments have been performed to nd that less binder and more pigment will produce a more opaque paint, while more

A3 Bio Section 1!

Mary Pearson 9

binder and less pigment will create a more transparent, glaze-like paint. The less opaque (and therefore more quark binder) a casein paint is, the more water resistant it will be (Fraley, 2011).

The idea of using quark as a paint binder has been around for centuries. Theopilius (1300s) and Cennini (1600s) both recording this casein recipe, along with added heat, would make an excellent glue (di Lorenzo, 2011). Both artists, they discovered the use of casein as a wood glue after nishing with their paintings. Today casein is most often used to make plastics (di Lorenzo, 2011).

A3 Bio Section 1! Literature Cited di Lorenzo, Antonia. 2011. Casein Glue. Medieval Life. http:// !

Mary Pearson 10

mymedievallife.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/casein-glue/ (30 Oct. 2013)

Fraley, M. (2011). Recipe for the Casein Binder. Casein Painting. Huntington, H. (2011). Natural Plant Dyes. Taylor and Francis Group. Lee, Matthew. 2011. Skim Milk Powder Vs. Whey Protein Powder. Live Strong. ! ! http://www.livestrong.com/article/387006-skim-milk-powder-vs-whey/ (30 Oct. 2013).

Johnson, B. (2011). Milk Paint. Earth Pigments Co. Reid, Carter. 2006. Extracting Dye from Fruit. Demand Media, Inc. http://! ! www.ehow.com/how_8841_extract-dye-fruit.html (30 Oct. 2013).

http://www.csiro.au/helix/sciencemail/activities/milkglue.html