ABSTRACT
Gardenia yellow is a yellowish food colorant and a m em ber of the carotenoid family. Its principal pigments are crocetin derivatives. It is very soluble in water com pared to other carotenoids. Gardenia yellow is ob tained by extraction with water or ethanol from the fruit of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis (Shan-zhi-i in Chinese) or Gardenia augusta Merrill var. grandiflora Hort. (Shui-zhi-i in Chinese) (Rubiaceae). Both fruits have been used in Japan and China as herbal drugs for their antiphlogistic, diuretic, and cholagogic effects. They have also been used as a yellow dye and to treat contusions. Furtherm ore, they are im portant crude drugs in Kanpo (tra ditional Asian drugs) prescriptions, Shishikankyo-to, Ourengedoku-to, Inchinko-to, Shishishi-to, etc., and they have sedative, antipyretic, diuretic, choleretic, and anti-inflammatory effects. They were listed in The Japanese Pharmacopoeia as crude drugs and in the list of existing food additives. On the o ther hand, both fruits have been used as food colorants for Japanese traditional foods such as ohan (yellow rice colored with gardenia fruit) and kuri-kanroni (yellow chestnuts colored with gardenia fruit and soaked in syrup).
