Many fruits and vegetables are colorful. What is your favorite colored vegetable or fruit (different from the ones posted by your classmates)? Do a little research and find out the name of the compound responsible for the color of your favorite colored vegetable or fruit. What are the elements present in this compound and what is its chemical formula?
My Favorite Vegetables and fruits are:
Vegetables: Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, and Zucchini
Fruits: Pineapple, Watermelon, and Plums
Discussion: Colorful Fruits and Vegetables
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Discussion: Colorful Fruits and Vegetables
My favorite fruit is watermelon
Watermelon has a red flesh. The red flesh is due to the presence of lycopene. Lycopene is the red colored pigment carotenoid hydrocarbon (also called carotene) that is abundantly found in red colored fruits and vegetables such as tomato, papaya, pink grapefruit, pink guava and watermelon (Kong et al., 2010).
The molecular formula of lycopene
C40H56
The structural formula of lycopene
The elements that make up lycopene are solely carbon and hydrogen.
References
Kong, K. W., Khoo, H. E., Prasad, K. N., Ismail, A., Tan, C. P., & Rajab, N. F. (2010). Revealing the power of the natural red pigment lycopene. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 15(2), 959–987. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules15020959