The invention discloses a color generation substance, a preparation method and application of the color generation substance in
color mixing of tea beverages and food, and the preparation method comprises the following steps: S1, mixing according to a proportion to prepare a
phosphate buffer solution with a certain pH value; s2, weighing
catechin substances, dissolving the
catechin substances in the
phosphate buffer solution obtained in the step S1, and fully dissolving the
catechin substances to prepare a catechin
buffer solution system; s3, heating the buffer
system in the step S2 at high temperature to promote
chemical reaction in the
system; and S4, rapidly cooling by using an ice-water bath after heating is finished, and adding a protective solution to stop the reaction, so as to obtain a
colored system containing the coloring substance. On the basis of an in-vitro
simulation system, low-molecular-weight color generation substances are found, an efficient preparation method is established, the influence rule of concentration change on color generation is studied, the
antioxidant capacity of the color generation substances is proved, and a material and theoretical basis is provided for quality regulation and control of tea and development and utilization of natural
pigment substances; the color generation substance can be applied to
color mixing of tea beverages and food.