Isolation of plant pigments from green and red leaves

Abstract

This experiment describes a colourful column chromatography of both lipophilic and hydrophilic plant pigments that agrees with green chemistry principles. A solid extract of green and red plant leaves is prepared by adsorption of crude extract on a household adsorbent. Column chromatography packed with the same adsorbent separates pigment bands with the use of common eluents. Paper chromatography is used to evaluate the eluted fractions.