Green Metallic Luster on the Film of Safflower Red Pigment Extracted by a Traditional Method

-Approach with Optical Measurements-

Abstract

Safflower red pigment was extracted from a dried flower cake “BENIMOCHI” produced in Yamagata Prefecture by a traditional method. Green metallic luster was observed from the pigment film immobilized on the black base. A reflection maximum around the wavelength of 550 nm was found on the measured spectrum, which corresponded to a green color. There was no angle dependence on the wavelength for the reflection maximum. It was found that the metallic luster occured at the air/film or glass/film interface, and contained poor linearly polarized components. Therefore, these results suggested that the green metallic luster is similar to the reflection of real metallic materials.