A crystalline pigment or colorant composition having high color intensity and/or low sugar content, and methods and processes of preparation. The composition may comprise purified fruit and/or vegetable color juices.

Provided are carotenoid-containing particles having, for preventing exudation of carotenoid at the time of tableting and during storage, a structure in which a carotenoid is dispersed in an agar gel containing a cyclodextrin and/or a plant protein.

The present invention relates to a method for the production of chromoplastid carotenoids that can be isolated from fruits. The procedure of the invention allows to selectively isolate, on the basis of the size (Size Exclusion Chromatography) and in pure form, the carotenoid in the form of regularly shaped and sized aggregates. The process includes the following steps: i) production, in suspension, of homogeneous fragments of the chromoplastidial membranes from the fruits; ii) solution isolation of the membrane components by solubilization with detergents; iii) selective and high-purity isolation of the carotenoid in the form of regular paracrystalline aggregates by a screening technique such as size exclusion chromatography (SEC—Size Exclusion Chromatography).

A crystalline pigment or colorant composition having high color intensity and/or low sugar content, and methods and processes of preparation. The composition may comprise purified fruit and/or vegetable color juices.

A crystalline pigment or colorant composition having high color intensity and/or low sugar content, and methods and processes of preparation. The composition may comprise purified fruit and/or vegetable color juices.

The anthocyanin synthesized from date palm may include co-pigmented anthocyanin complexes synthesized by extracting an anthocyanin from date palm leaves and reacting the anthocyanin with phenolic compounds also resulting from date palm leaf extraction in order to produce a co-pigmented anthocyanin complex. Date palm leaf powder may be mixed with water containing about 1.08% hydrochloric acid in a glass or ceramic lined reactor, and extraction may be performed by boiling the mixture for an hour or more. The color of the co-pigmented anthocyanin complex produced by this method may be adjusted by continuing the heating in half hour increments, in order to deepen the hue of the co-pigmented anthocyanin complex. The co-pigmented anthocyanin complex may be separated from the liquid mixture by first filtering the liquid mixture, refining the liquid mixture by adding gelatin to form a colloidal solution, and freeze-drying the refined liquid mixture.

The anthocyanin synthesized from date palm may include co-pigmented anthocyanin complexes synthesized by extracting an anthocyanin from date palm leaves and reacting the anthocyanin with phenolic compounds also resulting from date palm leaf extraction in order to produce a co-pigmented anthocyanin complex. Date palm leaf powder may be mixed with water containing about 1.08% hydrochloric acid in a glass or ceramic lined reactor, and extraction may be performed by boiling the mixture for an hour or more. The color of the co-pigmented anthocyanin complex produced by this method may be adjusted by continuing the heating in half hour increments, in order to deepen the hue of the co-pigmented anthocyanin complex. The co-pigmented anthocyanin complex may be separated from the liquid mixture by first filtering the liquid mixture, refining the liquid mixture by adding gelatin to form a colloidal solution, and freeze-drying the refined liquid mixture.

The anthocyanin synthesized from date palm may include co-pigmented anthocyanin complexes synthesized by extracting an anthocyanin from date palm leaves and reacting the anthocyanin with phenolic compounds also resulting from date palm leaf extraction in order to produce a co-pigmented anthocyanin complex. Date palm leaf powder may be mixed with water containing about 1.08% hydrochloric acid in a glass or ceramic lined reactor, and extraction may be performed by boiling the mixture for an hour or more. The color of the co-pigmented anthocyanin complex produced by this method may be adjusted by continuing the heating in half hour increments, in order to deepen the hue of the co-pigmented anthocyanin complex. The co-pigmented anthocyanin complex may be separated from the liquid mixture by first filtering the liquid mixture, refining the liquid mixture by adding gelatin to form a colloidal solution, and freeze-drying the refined liquid mixture.

The anthocyanin synthesized from date palm may include co-pigmented anthocyanin complexes synthesized by extracting an anthocyanin from date palm leaves and reacting the anthocyanin with phenolic compounds also resulting from date palm leaf extraction in order to produce a co-pigmented anthocyanin complex. Date palm leaf powder may be mixed with water containing about 1.08% hydrochloric acid in a glass or ceramic lined reactor, and extraction may be performed by boiling the mixture for an hour or more. The color of the co-pigmented anthocyanin complex produced by this method may be adjusted by continuing the heating in half hour increments, in order to deepen the hue of the co-pigmented anthocyanin complex. The co-pigmented anthocyanin complex may be separated from the liquid mixture by first filtering the liquid mixture, refining the liquid mixture by adding gelatin to form a colloidal solution, and freeze-drying the refined liquid mixture.

Beverages are provided which include a beverage liquid and granules mixed with the beverage liquid The granules include: (i) a milled carotenoid consisting of lutein and/or zeaxanthin, wherein the milled carotenoid has the following particle size distribution: D [3,2] in the range of from 0.6 to 1.5 μm, and D [v, 0.5] in the range of from 1.1 to 3.5 μm, (ii) a matrix material which encapsulates the milled carotenoid and comprises at least one modified food starch, a glucose syrup and sucrose, and (iii) a water-soluble antioxidant, wherein the granules have the following particle size distribution: D [3,2] in the range of from 200 to 300 μm, and D [v, 0.5] in the range of from 220 to 320 μm, and wherein all D values are as measured by laser diffraction according to the Fraunhofer scattering model, and wherein the granules do not include an oil or a gelatin.