Jagua blue derived from Genipa americana L. fruit: A natural alternative to commonly used blue food colorants?

Due to consumers' increasing health awareness, food industry aims at replacing synthetic dyes by natural counterparts. The substitution of blue synthetic dyes is particularly challenging since current natural alternatives such as phycocyanin (Spirulina) suffer from poor stability. Jagua blue (produced from Genipa americana L. fruit) might represent a potential novel blue pigment source. However, only little is known about its color properties, and application in food systems. Therefore, the blue color and the stability of Jagua blue were assessed for the first time and compared to commonly used colorants, namely, Spirulina, brilliant blue FCF (Blue no. 1), and indigo carmine (Blue no. 2). The reaction rate of Jagua blue was independent of its concentration, confirming thermal degradation to follow first-order kinetics. Between pH 3.6 and 5.0, the color hue of Jagua blue solutions was similar to that of Blue no. 2. However, Jagua blue revealed markedly higher storage stabilities (t1/2=86-105days) than Blue no. 2 (t1/2≤9days) and was less susceptible to acidic pH of 3.6 (t1/2=86days) than Spirulina (t1/2=70days). High negative b* values (blueness) of colored gelatin gels were only obtained for Jagua blue and Spirulina, and the former exhibited higher light stabilities (t1/2=15days) than Spirulina gels (t1/2=4days). Our findings indicate Jagua blue to be a most promising alternative to synthetic dyes, providing relevant information regarding potential food applications.