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A photosynthetic pigment (accessory pigment; chloroplast pigment; antenna pigment) is a pigment that is present in chloroplasts or photosynthetic bacteria and captures the light energy necessary for photosynthesis.
List of photosynthetic pigments (in order of increasing polarity):
- Carotene: an orange pigment
- Xanthophyll: a yellow pigment
- Phaeophytin a:[1] a gray-brown pigment
- Phaeophytin b:[1] a yellow-brown pigment
- Chlorophyll a: a blue-green pigment
- Chlorophyll b: a yellow-green pigment
Chlorophyll a is the most common of the six, present in every plant that performs photosynthesis. Each pigment absorbs light more efficiently in a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Chlorophyll a absorbs well in the ranges of 400–450 nm and at 650–700 nm; chlorophyll b at 450–500 nm and at 600–650 nm. Xanthophyll absorbs well at 400–530 nm. However, none of the pigments[2][3] absorb well in the green-yellow region; the diffuse reflection of the unabsorbed green light is responsible for the abundant green seen in nature.
- ^ a b CHLOROPHYLLS, JECFA, 1987
- ^ Virtanen, Olli; Constantinidou, Emanuella; Tyystjarvi, Esa (2022). "Chlorophyll does not reflect green light – how to correct a misconception". Journal of Biological Education. 56 (5). Taylor & Francis Online: 552–559. doi:10.1080/00219266.2020.1858930. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ Gruszecki, Wieslaw; Grudzinski, Wojciech; Banaszek-Glos, Agnieszka; Matula, Magdalena; Kernen, Peter; Krupa, Zbigniew; Sielewiesiuk, Jan. "Xanthophyll pigments in light-harvesting complex II in monomolecular layers: localisation, energy transfer and orientation" (PDF). Connecting Repositories. Elservier. PMID 10393259. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 27 January 2024.