Protocyanin
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Protocyanin is an anthocyanin pigment that is responsible for the red colouration of roses, but in cornflowers is blue. The pigment was first isolated in 1913 from the blue cornflower,[1] and the identical pigment was isolated from a red rose in 1915.[2] The difference in colour difference was previously explained as a difference in flower-petal pH,[2] but the pigment in the blue cornflower has been shown to be a supermolecular pigment consisting of a complex of anthocyanin, flavone, one ferric iron, one magnesium and two calcium ions. [3]
[edit] References
- ^ Willstätter R & Everest RW (1913). "{{{title}}}". Justus Liebigs Ann Chem 401: 189–232.
- ^ a b Willstätter R & Mallison H (1915). "{{{title}}}". Justus Liebigs Ann Chem 408: 147–162.
- ^ Shiono M, Matsugaki N, Takeda K (2005). "Structure of the blue cornflower pigment". Nature 436: 791.
