How to Keep Green Food Green – Controlling Chlorophyll

The color green symbolizes freshness, growth and renewal. Looking at produce that is vibrant and green makes the brain feel that it is freshly plucked and healthy. It is also one of the more prominent colors of nature, which is why being in the midst of nature gives us a feeling of freshness and vitality. In different hues, green is present in nature in the leaves, stalks, fruits and flowers. What gives plants their green color? A magic substance known as chlorophyll.

What is Chlorophyll?

Chlorophyll is a group of molecules present in plants that absorb the right quantity of sunlight from nature to aid the process of photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis is when plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to produce food and sugar (as energy) for the plants. As by-products, the process releases oxygen into the atmosphere.

All plants that undergo photosynthesis contain chlorophyll. The natural food dye called chlorophyll is present in the leaves of the plants, therefore it is the leaves that provide food to the rest of the plant. Plants that do not contain chlorophyll need to depend on other plants for food and are known as parasitic plants.

How does Chlorophyll Help in Photosynthesis

Sunlight is made up of different colors in different wavelengths. Together, they exude a white / yellow / orange hue but they contain colors like blue, green, red and violet as well. The process of photosynthesis does not require light of all of these wavelengths.

What Chlorophyll does is to filter the sunlight such that only light of specific wavelengths enters the plant while the other lights are reflected away. Of the light that is screened in, the color that becomes visible to the human eye is the color green.

Based on their structure and composition, chlorophyll present in plants is broadly classified into two types - chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. Various plants have these types of chlorophyll in different combinations, which is why there is a difference in the green color on different plants.

Chlorophyll Food Coloring

The green food coloring in fresh, green vegetables and other produce is also due to the presence of chlorophyll. You may have noticed that produce that is green when on a plant turns pale or changes color to yellow sometime after being plucked.

This is because the chlorophyll food coloring molecules do not have a very stable structure. They easily break down or change configuration due to exposure to acidity or heat, or due to damage, and this directly impacts the color of the produce. The color grows pale or even changes to yellow.

At the same time, there are certain times when the green of the food produce may turn into a more prominent and vibrant shade. The process of blanching, for instance, can increase the brightness of the green color in broccoli, spinach or peas.

This is definitely not because there is an increase in chlorophyll, instead it is because the process of blanching (where the produce is quickly submerged into hot, boiling water and then taken out quickly and cooled) causes a redistribution of gases in the vegetable or fruit, causing the chlorophyll to shine through much better than before.