plant pigments - anthocyanins, carotenoids, chlorophylls, and betalains

I'm becoming fascinated with the pigments found in plants. And especially what they do for the plant and what they might also be able to do for us.

I thought I'd start a thread where we can share lots of info about them.



And here's a useful diagram summarising the main types and where you might find them... (from springer.com)



And this is a lovely introductory video about colours in nature and how plant pigments work...

I've always been fascinated by the fact that the colour of fish is like a hologram, "displayed" on their scales. Sometimes it's also true for bird feathers; some of their colours or patterns are more of an optical illusion than actual pigment.

This is a fun site: Mushroom Color Atlas

Hahaha - I'd intended this thread to be for plant pigments and their nutritional and medicinal benefits but there's no way we're not going to digress to all sorts of other areas...

Here's a video about structural colour, as used in birds and fish, and how it might inspire us to use those ideas to create new materials.

In a vague attempt to steer the discussion back to where I originally intended...



And here's some info on the four main types of plant pigments, taken from the wikipedia page on plant pigments...

Chlorophyll is the primary pigment in plants; it is a chlorin that absorbs blue and red wavelengths of light while reflecting a majority of green. It is the presence and relative abundance of chlorophyll that gives plants their green color. All land plants and green algae possess two forms of this pigment: chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. Kelps, diatoms, and other photosynthetic heterokonts contain chlorophyll c instead of b, while red algae possess only chlorophyll a. All chlorophylls serve as the primary means plants use to intercept light in order to fuel photosynthesis.

Carotenoids are red, orange, or yellow tetraterpenoids. During the process of photosynthesis, they have functions in light-harvesting (as accessory pigments), in photoprotection (energy dissipation via non-photochemical quenching as well as singlet oxygen scavenging for prevention of photooxidative damage), and also serve as protein structural elements. In higher plants, they also serve as precursors to the plant hormone abscisic acid.

Betalains are red or yellow pigments. Like anthocyanins they are water-soluble, but unlike anthocyanins they are synthesized from tyrosine. This class of pigments is found only in the Caryophyllales (including cactus and amaranth), and never co-occur in plants with anthocyanins. Betalains are responsible for the deep red color of beets.

Anthocyanins (literally "flower blue") are water-soluble flavonoid pigments that appear red to blue, according to pH. They occur in all tissues of higher plants, providing color in leaves, plant stem, roots, flowers, and fruits, though not always in sufficient quantities to be noticeable. Anthocyanins are most visible in the petals of flowers of many species.[5]

My corn has some!
https://ift.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1541-4337.12249

Breakfast this morning was nice and colourful...

I decided a few years ago that this subject was too complicated for me, and I replaced it in my head with "Eat more colors and weird flavors. If something it purple and bitter, awesome!" And now I guide that when breeding plants, foraging, and preparing meals. Hopefully it's close enough to accurate to do me some good.