Significances of Chlorophyll

There are many colours like blue, red, yellow, pink, orange and a lot more. But why are the plant’s leaves green in colour?

It is because of the green colour pigment present within the plant cells.

Almost all the plants present on our planet bear green colour leaves. As we all know, plants are really important for the existence of life on this planet, and leaves do share several main features and are one of the main reasons responsible for sustaining life on this planet. The plant body is divided into root and shoot system. The shoot system, present above the ground comprises stems, leaves, branches, flowers, fruits and seeds. Leaves, the aerial part of the vascular plants are mainly responsible for the continuity of life in plants.

Let us look more into chlorophyll pigments, its structure and significance of chlorophyll in photosynthesis.

Like humans, plants do require food and nutrients for their growth and development. Leaves play a major role in all green plants by the synthesizing of food for the entire plant, hence leaves are called the food factory of plants. The biological process of producing food in all green plants is known as photosynthesis. Almost all living things are dependent upon the process of photosynthesis.

There are different parts of a leaf among which the green coloured, photosynthetic pigments called Chlorophyll are responsible for the green colour of leaves. They  are also involved in the process of photosynthesis by absorbing sunlight required for the production of carbohydrates in the plants.

There are different types of Chlorophyll, but the Chlorophyll A and Chlorophyll B play a significant role in the photosynthesis process by absorbing a broader range of wavelengths of light.  Apart from the higher

plants, these chlorophyll pigments are also present in the nonvascular plants, in algae and also in some photosynthetic organisms. The structure of chlorophyll comprises a chlorin ring with four nitrogen atoms, surrounded by a central magnesium atom and are attached to the side chains of a hydrocarbon tail.

Significances of Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll plays a vital role in all vascular plants and other photosynthetic organisms to produce energy for their growth and development. Different types of photochemical reactions are all carried out by this biomolecule. It is because of chlorophyll pigment, leaves are green in colour and with the presence of these pigments within the cell, scientists are able to classify the organisms into photoautotrophs. The classification of bacteria, blue-green Algae and  Phytoplankton are mainly based on the presence of these green colour pigments.

This was a brief introduction to the Significances of Chlorophyll. For more detailed information on Chlorophyll, its types, structure and functions, students can visit our BYJU’S website and also learn by watching interactive video lessons on various Biology related topics by subscribing to the BYJU’S YouTube Channel.