Chromatography?

Question

We just did a lab in biology on chromatography. We used a collard green plant.

The band of colors I got were

1. Dark Green
2. Yellow Green
3. Bright Greem
4. Faint Yellow
5. Bright Yellow

I'm pretty sure bands 1 and 2 are chlorophyll a and chlorphyll b respectively, but I'm not sure what bands 3-5 are. They are supposed to be xanthrophyll and carotenoids, but there is no orange to be found. I thought that was the color these bands were supposed to be... So what are bands 3-5?

And from least to greatest which bands would be the longest? I found a chromatography picture on the internet http://regentsprep.org/Regents/biology/units/homeostasis/chromatography.jpg, and it has chlorophyll a longer than b, but my results were vice versa. Thanks in advance for your help.

oh, and do you think the reason I didn't have orange band colors is because I used collard greens and for some reason they may have less carotenoids then other plants?

Answer 1

It is very possible that bands 1 and 2 are chlorophyll. I suspect that band 1 is chlorophyll b (which is usually a muddy olive color) and band 2 is chlorophyll a.

I am not sure what band 3 is. I believe it might be zeaxanthin or lutein.

Band 4 is most likely xanthophyll which is usually pale. Band 5 is beta carotene which is usually bright yellow and not orange.

Answer 2

Have you asked your teacher for help? That'd be the best place to go. I've found going to the teacher to be very helpful.