In Autumn or during normal days, chlorophyll will be broken down so thaT the leaves change to yellow or red. Why dose the chlorophyll need to be broken down?
2007-03-17 16:56:26 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Botany
During the summer green chlorophyll is produced in abundance to feed the plant. Two other pigments in plants, carotenes (which are orange) and xanthophylls (which are yellow) help chlorophyll by absorbing energy from light which chlorophyll reflects away. During the summer, the orange, yellow, and brown pigments are camouflaged by the intense green color of chlorophyll. In the fall short days and cold weather signals the tree to form abscission layer on the leaf stem and the leaf begins to die. Chlorophylll is more unstable than the other pigments so it is broken down faster letting the yellow and orange colors of the fall colors shine through. Red pigments are produced in the fall by the excess sugar which was not used up before the formation of the abscission layer which trapped it in the leaf.
2007-03-21 15:49:56 · answer #1 · answered by john h 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Chlorophyll is broken down into different substances to make them ready to be used by human beings. The most important thing is that sunshine gets converted into oxygen. When I was about 16, in 1950, there was a craze to put containers of chlorophyll in rooms to make the air fresh. A Pre-runner to air conditioning? LOL
2007-03-17 17:13:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Chlorophyll is stll a form of sugar. Sugar is not the simpliest form of an element. Eventuallly, the leaves will turn ino to simple gasses such a carbon and nitrogen.
2007-03-17 17:03:04 · answer #3 · answered by geno1581 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋