Thermal stability of a red pigment, carthamin, frm Carthamus tinctorius was investigated to explore possible applications as natural color additives for foods, cosmetics, and nutraceuticals. Degree of degradation reactions of carthamin at acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions were determined with UV/V is spectral measurements. Decomposition half lives of carthamin at 25.deg. C were 4.0 h, 5.1 h, and 12.5 h at pH 5.0, pH 7.0, and pH 12.0, respectively, indicating that carthamin is much more stable at alkaline pH than acidic or neutral conditions. The activation energies of carthamin at pH 5.0, pH 7.0, and pH 12.0 were 15.6, 15.7 and 16.8 kcal/mol, respectively.