Pigment is a coloring matter, that is, its main function is to give color to something. This dye can have a natural origin or an artificial defect. Since the most ancient times, man has used them for their presence in the natural environment, but later began to produce them on a large scale industrially.
At the technical level of the use of color, to designate the substance used to color a painting or any other material, and the other use is given in the context of biology, to indicate more or less the same, but in this case the contribution. Pigment tonality is carried out in cells, defining fundamental physical questions, such as the color of an individual's eyes, hair and skin.
The materials that humans have chosen and produced to be used as pigments generally have special properties that make them ideal for coloring other materials.
Thanks to pigments, it is possible to give a certain color to food, clothing and cosmetics, for example. Powder pigments are generally used, which are added to a colorless or very weak material. There are pigments that act as permanent dyes and others that, with the passage of time, stop coloring the substance in question.
Although they are often used synonymously, it is possible to differentiate between pigments and dyes. While these are liquid and allow a solution to be obtained, pigments are usually solids that create a suspension.
Very important are the so-called vegetable pigments. These are the set of substances that exist in plants and that give shape to complex structures. Specifically, among the best known are chlorophyll, anthocyanins, flavonoids and carotene.
However, perhaps the best known is chlorophyll, which becomes a fundamental part of so-called photosynthesis. And it is responsible for absorbing what is daylight to establish and fix what is carbon dioxide from the air.
In the field of biology, the substance that contributes to the tonality of cells is known as pigment. These pigments, which can dissolve or act as granules, define the tone of hair, eyes and skin, among other parts of the body. Among the most important biological pigments are chlorophyll (which gives plants their characteristic green color) and melanin.
