Purification of gardenia yellow pigment with macroporous resin

In order to decrease the quantity of geniposide and increase the stability of gardenia yellow pigment, the selection from ten kinds of macroporous resins which can purify gardenia yellow pigment very well was studied. The results show that A-5 macroporous resin has good selectivity to crocin and can separate crocin and geniposide effectively, it is suitable to purify gardenia yellow pigment. The adsorptive quantity and adsorptive rate of crocin adsorbed by A-5 macroporous resin are all above 85%, the OD ratio of gardenia yellow pigment which was purified by A-5 macroporous resin is below 0.4.