are made up of a framework of cellulose fibers embedded in a mass of amorphous materials, including the pectins (left) When cooked in boiling water, the cellulose fibers remain intact, but the amorphous materials are partly extracted into fluids from within the cells, thus weakening the walls (right) and tenderizing the vegetable or fruit Green Chlorophylls The earth is painted green with chlorophylls, the molecules that harvest solar energy and funnel it into the photosynthetic system that converts it into sugar molecules Chlorophyll a is bright bluegreen, chlorophyll b a more muted olive color The a form dominates the b by 3 to 1 in most leaves, but the balance is evener in plants that grow in the shade, and in aging tissues, where the a form is degraded faster The chlorophylls are concentrated in cell bodies called chloroplasts, where they’re embedded in the many folds of a membrane along with the other molecules of the photosynthetic system Each chlorophyll molecule is made up of two parts One is a ring of carbon and nitrogen atoms with a magnesium atom at the center, quite similar to the heme ring in the meat myoglobin pigment (p 133) This ring portion is soluble in water, and does the work of absorbing light The second part is a fatsoluble tail of 16 carbon atoms, which anchors the whole molecule in the chloroplast membrane This part is colorless These complex molecules are readily altered when their membrane home is disrupted during cooking This is why the bright green of fresh vegetables is fragile Ironically, prolonged exposure to intense light also damages chlorophylls Attention to cooking times, temperatures, and acidities are thus essential to serving bright green vegetables (p 280) Yellow, Orange, Red Carotenoids Carotenoids are so named because the first ... Each chlorophyll molecule is made up of two parts One is a ring of carbon and nitrogen atoms with a magnesium atom at the center, quite similar to the heme ring in the meat myoglobin pigment (p 133) This ring portion is soluble in water, and does the work... portion is soluble in water, and does the work of absorbing light The second part is a fatsoluble tail of 16 carbon atoms, which anchors the whole molecule in the chloroplast membrane This part is colorless These complex molecules are readily... altered when their membrane home is disrupted during cooking This is why the bright green of fresh vegetables is fragile Ironically, prolonged exposure to intense light also damages chlorophylls Attention to