How are plant pigments identified by ascending paper chromatography?
Ascending Paper Chromatography to Identify Plant Pigments:
- Leaf pigment analysis develops green, yellow, and orange bands when a plant extract runs upward on chromatography paper.
- The band colors and Rf values help distinguish chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, xanthophylls, and carotenoids.
- A leaf extract contains several pigments dissolved from plant tissue.
- These pigments move at different rates as the solvent rises through the paper.
- The different movement rates produce separate colored bands on the chromatogram.
- Chlorophylls usually appear as green bands, while carotenoid pigments appear yellow to orange.
- Each pigment has a different migration distance under the same solvent conditions.
- Comparing color and Rf value helps match the observed band with a known pigment type.
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