photosynthetic pigment or antenna pigment is a pigment that is present in chloroplasts or photosynthetic bacteria and captures the light energy necessary for photosynthesis. Green plants have five closely-related photosynthetic pigments (in order of increasing polarity): Carotene - an orange pigment Xanthophyll - a yellow pigment Chlorophyll a - a blue-green pigment Chlorophyll b - a yellow-green pigment Phaeophytin a[1] - a gray-brown pigment Phaeophytin b[1] - a yellow-brown pigment Chlorophyll a is the most common of the six, present in every plant that performs photosynthesis. The reason that there are so many pigments is that each absorbs light more efficiently in a different part of the spectrum. Chlorophyll a absorbs well at a wavelength of about 400-450 nm and at 650-700 nm; chlorophyll b at 450-500 nm and at 600-650 nm. Xanthophyll absorbs well at 400-530 nm. However, none of the pigments absorbs well in the green-yellow region, which is responsible for the abundant green we see in nature.
