Plant Pigments and their Manipulation. Annual Plant Reviews, Volume 14
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Author(s): K. Davies (Ed.)
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing
ISBN: 1405117370
Format: hardback
352pp
Price: £110.00
Review Date: 26 November 2004
Review: This book provides an overview of pigment chemistry and biology, and an up-to-date account of pigment biosynthesis and the modification of their production using biotechnology. The ten chapter cover a wide scope of pigmentation research, from the importance of structural diversity in generating the range of colours seen in plants, to improving human health properties of crops by increasing pigment levels in transgenic plants. Chapters cover the major plant pigmentation groups – chlorophylls, carotenoids, flavonoids (the coloured flavonoids of flowers and tannins) and betalains, as well as pigments outside this group that are of particular significance to biology or commerce. The roles of plant pigments in human health, the amelioration of the effects of UV radiation, and modern techniques for the extraction, separation, identification and quantification of the major pigment classes are also discussed.