Chlorophyllides in green and etiolated leaves

Chlorophyllides, extracted from lyophylized fresh leaves of different species by absolute methanol, were separated from the chlorophylls by thin-layer chromatography. They amounted only to 0·04 to 0·1 per cent of the total amount of chlorophyll a on a molar basis. On account of their low concentration it was concluded—in contrast to an assumption made recently—that the 683 nm absorption band of mature leaves in vivo cannot be due to a chlorophyllide-holochrome.