Plant Pigment Chromatography
Objectives:
To use the process of chromatography to separate plant pigments.
To compare the plant pigments found in spinach and red leaf lettuce leaves.
Hypotheses:
I believe the spinach leaf in the acetone will have a higher pigment of chlorophyll a and the red leaf lettuce will have a higher pigment of anthocyanin.
I believe the spinach leaf in distilled water will have a higher pigment of chlorophyll a and the red leaf lettuce will have a higher pigment of anthocyanin.
Discussion Questions:
1. Describe what each of your chromatography strips looked like. Specifically, identify the pigments on each strip and compare their positions to one another.
The Spinach in acetone(S in a) has a dark green line (chlorophyll a and b) in the middle of the chromatography paper .
The Spinach (S in d.w) distilled water had a dot with the outer edges being darker green (Chlorophyll a) and the middle is lighter green (Chlorophyll b).
The Red leaf lettuce in acetone (R in a) has a dark green line (Chlorophyll a and b) with a pink dot (Anthocyanin).
The Red leaf lettuce in distilled water (R in d.w) has a pink vertical line (Anthocyanin) with a dark greed dot and lighter green surrounding it.
2. Which pigments did the spinach and the red leaf lettuce have in common? Propose an explanation for this.
Spinach and red lettuce have the same pigments chlorophyll a and b, only they have different concentrations .
3. Which pigments were soluble in water? In acetone? Why are some pigments carried further from their original position than others?
The pigments that were soluble in water and acetone are chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and anthocyanin. Some of the pigments were carried further from the original position then the others is based on their polarities, distilled water (polar) and acetone (mid-polar)
4. In the fall, leaves often change colors as the day shortens. Propose an explanation for this color change. What do you think happens to the green pigments?
To use the process of chromatography to separate plant pigments.
To compare the plant pigments found in spinach and red leaf lettuce leaves.
Hypotheses:
I believe the spinach leaf in the acetone will have a higher pigment of chlorophyll a and the red leaf lettuce will have a higher pigment of anthocyanin.
I believe the spinach leaf in distilled water will have a higher pigment of chlorophyll a and the red leaf lettuce will have a higher pigment of anthocyanin.
Discussion Questions:
1. Describe what each of your chromatography strips looked like. Specifically, identify the pigments on each strip and compare their positions to one another.
The Spinach in acetone(S in a) has a dark green line (chlorophyll a and b) in the middle of the chromatography paper .
The Spinach (S in d.w) distilled water had a dot with the outer edges being darker green (Chlorophyll a) and the middle is lighter green (Chlorophyll b).
The Red leaf lettuce in acetone (R in a) has a dark green line (Chlorophyll a and b) with a pink dot (Anthocyanin).
The Red leaf lettuce in distilled water (R in d.w) has a pink vertical line (Anthocyanin) with a dark greed dot and lighter green surrounding it.
2. Which pigments did the spinach and the red leaf lettuce have in common? Propose an explanation for this.
Spinach and red lettuce have the same pigments chlorophyll a and b, only they have different concentrations .
3. Which pigments were soluble in water? In acetone? Why are some pigments carried further from their original position than others?
The pigments that were soluble in water and acetone are chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and anthocyanin. Some of the pigments were carried further from the original position then the others is based on their polarities, distilled water (polar) and acetone (mid-polar)
4. In the fall, leaves often change colors as the day shortens. Propose an explanation for this color change. What do you think happens to the green pigments?