Blue aril of Traveller's Tree seedpod

This is the transmission spectrum of the blue aril (fibres) surrounding the seeds of the Traveller's Tree (Ravenala madagascariensis). Fibres were mounted between microscope slides and so the spectrum represents the depth of a single fibre. The nature of the blue pigment is not currently known but is thought to be a protein.

Reference: Pirone, Cary L., "Bilirubin: an Animal Pigment in the Zingiberales and Diverse Angiosperm Orders" (2010). FIU Electronic Theses and
Dissertations. Paper 336.
digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/336

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