Photosynthetic pigment

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A photosynthetic pigment (accessory pigment; chloroplast pigment; antenna pigment) is a pigment that is present in chloroplasts or photosynthetic bacteria and captures the light energy necessary for photosynthesis.

List of photosynthetic pigments (in order of increasing polarity):

• Carotene: an orange pigment
• Xanthophyll: a yellow pigment
• Phaeophytin a:^[1] a gray-brown pigment
• Phaeophytin b:^[1] a yellow-brown pigment
• Chlorophyll a: a blue-green pigment
• Chlorophyll b: a yellow-green pigment

Chlorophyll a is the most common of the six, present in every plant that performs photosynthesis. Each pigment absorbs light more efficiently in a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Chlorophyll a absorbs well in the ranges of 400–450 nm and at 650–700 nm; chlorophyll b at 450–500 nm and at 600–650 nm. Xanthophyll absorbs well at 400–530 nm. However, none of the pigments^[2][3] absorb well in the green-yellow region; the diffuse reflection of the unabsorbed green light is responsible for the abundant green seen in nature.