Genipin is a chemical compound found in Genipa americana fruit extract.

It is an aglycone derived from an iridoid glycoside called geniposide which is also present in fruit of Gardenia jasminoides.

382 mg/kg in mice, therefore, much less toxic than glutaraldehyde and many other commonly used synthetic cross-linking reagents.

Furthermore, genipin can be used as a regulating agent for drug delivery, as the raw material for gardenia blue pigment preparation, and as the intermediate for alkaloid syntheses.

[2] The blue color of genipin is stabilized in milk due to the natural pH of milk [3] In vitro experiments have shown that genipin blocks the action of the transporter uncoupling protein 2.