Stable natural color process, products and use thereof

Method of preparing stable, natural colors, the method resulting in a color having an increased -b value based on the CIE LAB scale when the mixture defined in step (a) is compared with the processed mixture defined in step (c), comprising

• a. forming a mixture comprising:
• (i) juice from fruit of a plant of the Rubiaceae Family, which contains sufficient genipin or derivatives of genipin, selected from genipin gentiobioside, geniposide, geniposidic acid, and gardenoside, capable of reacting with the juice or liquefied material defined in (a)(ii) to produce a product of the desired color;
• (ii) other juice or liquefied material made by the chemical or mechanical liquification of a solid material, from a suitable food-grade source selected from fruits, grains, seeds, beans, nuts, vegetables, plant materials, milk, dairy products, egg, meat, seafood, shellfish, microbial and algal material, and by-products from such sources, that contain components capable of providing the desired color when combined with the juice defined in (a)(i);
• b. processing said mixture using conventional juice processing methods selected from milling, pressing, extracting, and combinations of those processing methods, at a pH of from about 3.5 to about 7;
• and
• c. stabilizing the mixture against microbial growth, oxidation, organoleptic deterioration and to provide a stabilized color intensity, by applying a heat treatment.