Pigments
| Definition: |
Any normal or abnormal coloring matter in plants, animals, or micro-organisms. |
| Notes: |
largely biol: differentiate from DYES, usually non-biol |
Pigments Categories.
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Flavins |
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Hemocyanin |
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Melanins - Pigments causing darkness in skin, hair, feathers, etc. They are irregular polymeric structures and are divided into three groups: allomelanins in the plant kingdom and eumelanins and phaeomelanins in the animal kingdom. |
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Phycocyanin - The metal-free blue phycobilin pigment in a conjugated chromoprotein of blue-green algae. It functions as light-absorbing substance together with chlorophylls. |
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Phycoerythrin - The metal-free red phycobilin pigment in a conjugated chromoprotein of red algae. It functions as a light-absorbing substance together with chlorophylls. |
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Phytochrome - A blue-green biliprotein widely distributed in the plant kingdom. |
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Retinal Pigments - Chemicals functioning in the visual cycle in retinal rod cells. Through excitation by visible light, a series of complex molecular changes occur that serve to trigger in the optical nerve endings an impulse transmitted to the brain, resulting in the perception of vision. |
Pigments Definitions and Terms
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