CHLOROPHYLLS AND OTHER PIGMENTS

CHLOROPYLLS- are unique pigments with green color and found in diverse plants, algae,
and cyanobacteria. The term chlorophyll is derived from the Greek Chloros meaning
“green” and Phyllon meaning “leaf.”

"Isolation and naming of the chlorophyll was first carried out by Joseph Bienaimé Caventou
and Pierre-Joseph Pelletier in 1817"

SOURCES OF CHLOROPHYLL

Dark , leafy greens

Fresh herbs

Algae Sprouts
Wheat Grass

Green vegetables and fruits

Sea Vegetables
 TYPES AND CONTRIBUTION OF CHLOROPHYLL

The numbers naturally occurring chlorophylls may not yet be fully known. Chlorophyll A and
chlorophyll B are the main components of photosystems in photosynthetic organisms.

Initially, chlorophyll was classified into four, chlorophyll A, chlorophyll B, chlorophyll C, and
chlorophyll D. But later a new type of chlorophyll was discovered within stromatolite in
western Australia, which was named chlorophyll F. Thus eventually chlorophyll was divided
into five classes, A,B,C,D and F.

CHLOROPHYLL A

This type of chlorophyll is found in almost all photosynthetic organisms, plants, algae,
cyanobacteria, and aquatic species.

It is found in all light harvesting complexes (LHCs) and both reaction centers (RCs) in
organisms, photosystem I (PS I) and photosystem II (PS II). It absorbs mainly red light
from the solar spectrum.

The molecular formula of chlorophyll A is C55H72MgN4O5.

CHLOROPHYLL B

Chlorophyll B has been confirmed to be found in green algae and also in higher plants. It
assists chlorophyll A in the photosynthesis process. This pigment has yellow color in its
natural state but absorbs blue light from the whole solar spectrum.

The chemical formula of chlorophyll B is C55H70MgN4O6. There is only a minor

difference between the structures of chlorophyll A and chlorophyll B.

CHLOROPHYLL C

Chlorophyll C was confirmed as a mixture of magnesium tetrad hydro- and hexade hydro
pheoporphyrin A3 monomethyl ester It has three sub classes, C1, C2, and C3. Their
respective formulas are C35H30MgN4O5, C35H28MgN4O5, and C36H28MgN4O7. The c1
is considered the most common form of chlorophyll c; its structure differs from c2 in that
it contains an ethyl group in place of a vinyl group at the C-8 position.
 CHLOROPHYLL D

The molecular formula of chlorophyll D is C54H70MgN4O6. The structure of chlorophyll D

was elucidated by Manning and Strain. They revealed that it differs from chlorophyll A in
that it has a formyl group in place of divinyl group in ring A of porphyrin.

CHLOROPHYLL F

It was the last main chlorophyll to be discovered. It was revealed in cyanobacteria from
the deep stromatolites in the western region of Australia by Min Chen and his colleagues.
Among all known types of chlorophyll, it is chlorophyll F that can utilize the lowest solar
light from the extreme end of the infrared spectrum for photosynthesis.

The molecular structure of chlorophyll F is similar to that chlorophyll B, namely

C55H70MgN4O6.

OTHER PIGMENT

Pigments are chemical compound which reflect only certain wavelengths of visible light.
This makes them appear to ”colorful”. Flowers, corals, and even animal skin contain
pigments which give them their color .

CAROTENOIDS

Carotenoids are usually red, orange, or yellow pigments, and include the familiar compound
carotene, which gives carrots their color. These compounds are composed of two small six-
carbon rings connected by a "chain" of carbon atoms.

As a result, they do not dissolve in water, and must be

attached to membranes within the cell. Carotenoids
cannot transfer sunlight energy directly to the
photosynthetic pathway, but must pass their absorbed
energy to chlorophyll. For this reason, they are called
accessory pigments. One very visible accessory
pigment is fucoxanthin the brown pigment which colors kelps and other brown algae as well
as the diatoms.
CAROTENE

These are orange photosynthetic pigments found in plants and has an important role in
photosynthesis. They transmit the light energy that they
absorb from chlorophyll. They also protect the plant by
absorbing the energy of the single oxygen produced during the
photosynthesis.

There are four kind of carotene

• Alpha carotene , beta carotene, lycopene and

rhodospin. Similar to xanthophylls they have antioxidant properties.

XANTHOPHYLLS

Xanthophylls this are yellow pigment of the leaves and are classified as accesory pigments
which absorbs the wavelenght that chlorophyll cannot absorb. They served as protection
to excessive amount of sunlight to prevent further damage in plant.

Three kinds of Xanthropylls

“This three are consider antioxidant”

Canthaxanthin- is a type of caronoid pigment with an orange-red colour. It occurs

natturally in many foods such as mushrooms, crustanceans, fish and eggs. The pigment has
also been produced by chemical synthesis.

Zeaxanthin- is one of the most common carotenoid alchohol found in nature. It is

important in the xanthropyll cycle. Zeaxanthin nutrition is one promising way to prevent or
delay the progression of these disease.

Lutein- obtain by animals by ingesting plants. Lutein absorb blue light and therefore
appears yellow at low concentrations and orange-red at high concentration.
PHYCOBILINS

Phycobilins are water-soluble pigments, and are therefore found in the cytoplasm, or in
the stroma of the chloroplast.

Phycobilins are not only useful to the organisms which use them for soaking up light
energy; they have also found use as research tools. Both PHYCOCYANIN and
PHYCOERYTHRIN fluoresce at a particular wavelength. That is, when they are exposed to
strong light, they absorb the light energy, and release it by emitting light of a very narrow
range of wavelengths.

The light produced by this fluorescence is so distinctive and reliable, that Phycobilins may
be used as chemical "tags". The pigments are chemically bonded to antibodies, which are
then put into a solution of cells.

When the solution is sprayed as a stream of fine droplets past a laser and computer
sensor, a machine can identify whether the cells in the droplets have been "tagged" by the
antibodies. This has found extensive use in cancer research, for "tagging" tumor cells.