The present invention pertains to a process of improving the total yield of curcuminoids from curcuminoid-containing material. More specifically, there is provided a process wherein a second residue, previously considered a waste resulting from a crystallisation step of a curcuminoid-containing phase, is made useful by improving the coloring properties of this second residue by extraction with hexane and/or methanol at ambient temperature. The pro??cess improves the total yield of curcuminoids by 30-40%.