Vegetation inside: a comparative analysis of leaf pigments and chlorophyll fluorescence in variegated plants

Abstract

The characteristic plants of understory environments show varied colors in their leaves, called variegations. These tend to regulate, through their concentrations of leaf pigments, their photosynthetic processes. The objective of this research was to carry out a comparative analysis of leaf pigment concentrations and chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters in four species of variegated plants, Fittonia albivenis, Alternanthera ficoidea, Tradescantia spathacea and Hypoestes phyllostachya, as well as the control species, Jasminum mesnyi, and Tradescantia pallida. To determine which are most suitable for environments with high and low light intensities. The analysis of leaf pigments were carried out by spectrophotometry, and to analyze the fluorescence emission of chlorophyll-a PAM-2500 fluorometer was used, whose parameters were calculated from the JIP test. The chlorophyll a levels ranged from 27.67 to 110.88 (μg mL^-1 gMF^-1), those of chlorophyll b ranged from 10.29 to 40.64 (μg mL^-1 gMF^-1). Carotenoid titers ranged from 2.6275 to 26.1925 (μg mL^-1 gMF^-1), and anthocyanins ranged from 0 to 2.25679 (μg mL^-1 gMF^-1), with the highest titers occurring for the control species J. mesnyi and the variegated F. albivenis. The fluorescence parameters differed statistically among the variegated plant species concerning the controls. We conclude that the species T. spathacea presents better adaptation to environments with high levels of light radiation. In environments with more significant variation in light radiation, the species variegated H. phyllostachya and A. ficoidea will develop better. Finally, the species variegated F. albivenis must be maintained in environments with low levels of light radiation.