Derivation and verification of kinetics equation for degradation of chlorophyll in extract obtained from leaves of some weeds

Degradation of chlorophyll occurs in light as well as darkness and is also influenced by various factors. Isolated chlorophyll is particularly not stable. In the present study, weeds have been used for the analysis which otherwise do not have any utility. The species used for the purpose include- Euphorbia hirta, Chenopodium album, Amaranthus hybridus, Lantana camara, Parthenium hysterophorus, Tridax procumbens, Xanthium strumarium, Cannabis sativa and Croton spp. An expression for the rate of degradation of chlorophyll a has been derived using the various steps involved in the mechanism of degradation of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. The rate has been found to vary inversely with Chi b concentration. This was verified using the following plants-Cannabis sativa, Amaranthus hybridus, Xanthium strumarium, Tridax procumbens, Parthenium hysterophorus and Euphorbia hirta. The rate of degradation of Chi a in terms of concentration of Chi b has further been calculated for all the plant species mentioned earlier.