biology

• Pigment is a substance that absorbs light and their colour comes from the lights that they reflect.
• Chlorophylls are molecules of chlorophyll that cause the green colors in plants.
• Types of chlorophylls include Chlorophyll A, B and C.
• Chlorophylls are critical for the process of photosynthesis.
• Chlorophyll absorbs energy from light.
• Chlorophyll A appears green in color, absorbs blue and red light and reflects green light.
• Chlorophyll A is the most abundant type of pigment in leaves and thus the most important type of pigment in chloroplast.
• Chlorophyll B is less abundant than chlorophyll a but has the ability to absorb a wider wavelength of light energy.
• Chlorophyll C is not found in plants but is found in some microorganisms capable of performing photosynthesis.
• Carotenoids are pigments that usually produce yellow, orange, and red colors.
• Types of carotenoids include Carotenes and Xanthophylls.
• Carotenes and Xanthophylls absorb light between 460 to 550 nm and hence appear orange, red and yellow.
• Carotenes include pigments like 𝛃-carotene (beta-carotene) and lycopene, all with the chemical formula C40H56 and all their names end in -ene.
• Xanthophylls include pigments like lutein and zeaxanthin, have a chemical structure similar to carotenes but have additional oxygen molecules, and all their names end in -in.
• Flavonoids are a family of compounds found in plants that produce red, yellow, blue and purple colors.
• The most common type of flavonoid is anthocyanin which is found in cell vacuoles.
• Phycobilin is a water-soluble pigment, found in chloroplast.