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 ( Centaurea cyanus ), [1] and the identical pigment was isolated from a red rose in 1915. [2] The difference in colour had been 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 anthocyanin, flavone, one ferric ion, one magnesium and two calcium ions [3] forming a copigmentation complex.

The molecular formula of protocyanin complex is of the type of C366H384O228FeMg.

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References

  1. Willstätter R & Everest RW (1913). "Untersuchungen über die Anthocyane. I. Über den Farbstoff der Kornblume". Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem. 401 (2): 189–232. doi:10.1002/jlac.19134010205.
  2. 1 2 Willstätter R, Mallison H (1915). "Untersuchungen über die Anthocyane. X. Über Variationen der Blütenfarben". Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem. 408: 147–162. doi:10.1002/jlac.19154080110.
  3. Shiono M, Matsugaki N, Takeda K (2005). "Structure of the blue cornflower pigment". Nature. 436 (7052): 791. Bibcode:2005Natur.436..791S. doi: 10.1038/436791a . PMID   16094358. S2CID   4312804.