metalresearcher
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Where do nice colors in nature originate from ?
Normally, bright colors result from heavy metal salts, but the bright colors (red, orange, yellow, purple, magenta) of some bird or flower species do
probably not originate from them. I am not talking about the chlorophyll green of the brownish color which are abundant in nature. Which chemicals are
responsible for it ?
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Tsjerk
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There are many, many colorful organic dyes, probably more than there are (heavy) metal salts.
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unionised
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Nature can make beautiful colours using things that are not coloured; quartz and water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opal
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridescence#Life
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Texium
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Thread Moved
27-5-2022 at 06:03 |
brubei
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The color is also under the pressure of natural selection.
A color particularly different from the environment allows to differentiate from the rest of the world to reproduce (but we become an easy prey). So
the animals that had an interest in being seen have mutated to produce the deepest colors and patterns possible.
Besides we like very colorful things it's probably because we are "hunter-gatherers" and that's what allows us to spot our prey and our fruits.
If we were the prey of blue butterflies for millions of years, the intense colors would certainly make us shiver like all the 8-legged shits.
I'm French so excuse my language
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Texium
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As Tsjerk said, there are countless organic colorants, both natural and artificial, but here’s a few of the most notable ones that are found in
nature for you to read up on.
Anthocyanins are ubiquitous in the plant world and can produce an entire rainbow of colors depending on the pH: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthocyanin
Beta carotene is just a highly conjugated polyene, but it is a bright orange, and as the name implies, is what gives carrots their typical orange
color: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Β-Carotene It’s part of the larger family of carotenoids that produce orange or red coloration in everything
from pumpkins to lobsters.
True, persistent blues and purples are rarer in nature, but are seen from indigo and its derivatives: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_dye
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_purple
Tyrian purple being notable as an unusual bromine containing natural product as well.
[Edited on 5-27-2022 by Texium]
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AvBaeyer
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A few years ago a book along the lines of the OP's question was published:
David Lee, "Nature's Palette - The Science of Plant Color," Univ of Chicago Press, 2007.
There is an Appendix with the chemical structures involved in plant coloration. There is another Appendix on paper chromatography for separation of
pigments. Overall, this is a very interesting book written so that anyone with some basic science can learn from it. Highly recommended.
AvB
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