What is the general term for a color component within the skin such as blood or melanin?

• A. Pigment
• B. Chromophore
• C. Melanocyte
• D. Keratin

Answer: (B)

Color in the skin is produced by color-bearing parts of molecules, which are chromophores. In blood, the hue comes from the chromophore within hemoglobin, and in melanin, the color arises from chromophore-containing structures in the pigment. So the general term for a color component within the skin is chromophore, because it names the part of a molecule that actually produces and displays color. Pigment refers to the coloring substance itself, such as melanin or hemoglobin, while melanocytes are the pigment-producing cells and keratin is a structural protein—neither specifically names the color-bearing component.