Abstract
The mechanism of remote detection concerning the xanthophyll cycle pigments is described. The group of primary plant carotenoids can be divided into the oxygen-free "carotenes" and into the "xanthophylls, " which contain oxygen in different forms. Functional chloroplasts include β-carotene, lutein, violaxanthin and neoxanthin as major carotenoid components. Under highlight conditions the xanthophyll violaxanthin is deepoxidized to zeaxanthin via antheraxanthin. These conversions result in absorption shift of the xanthophyll cycle pigments. The difference spectrum associated with these pigment transitions shows a detectable sign near 531nm in the leaf reflectance.
