Influence of selected abiotic factors on the decomposition of chlorophylls

The paper presents the results of experiments to determine the influence of selected physico-chemical factors – oxygen, visible light and temperature – on the decomposition of (1) chlorophylls a, b and c, chlorophyll a derivatives and β-carotene in acetone solution, and (2) chlorophyll a and β-carotene in axenic cultures of the blue-green algae Anabaena variabilis. The results indicate that both in acetone extracts and in blue-green algae cultures these pigments were most sensitive to light and oxygen; temperatures of up to 25◦C had no marked influence on these compounds. Under anoxia in acetone solution, the stability towards light decreased in the order chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, chlorophylls c. Chlorophyll a, moreover, was less stable than its derivatives – phaeophorbides, phaeophytins, pyrophaeophytins and steryl chlorins – but more stable than β-carotene, in the last case also in the blue-green algae cultures. Decomposition of all the pigments proceeded mainly via the breakdown of the porphyrin macrocycle, since the decomposition products were not detected in the VIS range. On the basis of these experiments one can state that while light and oxygen may have a decisive direct influence on the distribution of chlorophylls and β-carotene in sediments, in the natural environment, temperatures of up to 25◦ C may have very little immediate effect.