Colour: Are Apples Really Red?
A
simple way to answer this question would be to say that, “ Apples are red
because I see them red.” But wouldn’t that be a really naïve way to answer such
a profound question as that, not likely to quench any educated human’s
curiosity. Hence, our little aim will be to stride progressively in the
direction of undermining our incomplete foundation of colour theory and rebuild
it with a tinge of universal wisdom.
To
begin with we really need understand the question – “ What is Red? “. A
layman’s definition of the colour red would be – “ Red is the colour of an
Apple “ and why shouldn’t it be. Right from the early sweet days of our
kindergarten years we have been hammered by this impeccable statement to the
point that we never really think of red’s independent existence or eternal
origin. However the Oxford dictionary defines red as “A colour at the end of
the spectrum next to orange and opposite violet..”. Let’s stick to
this definition for the sake of moving on, but it still doesn’t help us in
answering our questions.
In
one’s high-school years one learns that a certain type of waves called as
Electromagnetic waves are responsible for the production of sense of colour. In
the case of red, an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength of about 700nm
hits some of the cone cells of our retina and curiously, the brain makes up a
minute coloured spot at that point. And we have been told to perceive this
colour as ‘Red’. Doesn’t this raise a vey fundamental question – Does the
colour red really exists? Or is it just an imagination of our developed brain?
And not just red, this is a question that seemingly creeps on the entire
spectrum of colours, radically making us think of our once very much strong
notions.
Biological reason behind an Apple’s red colour :
Colours
in plants are the result of pigments which by support wrap the plant part in a
discrete but seemingly continuous texture of their protein bound bodies. These
little stacked up micro-organs have a crucial role of harvesting energy and
help about in making redox reactions happen. The important part for us here is
the ‘Harvesting of energy’, during this process the plant pigment absorbs only
a certain part or a range of wavelengths from the incoming solar light while
the remainder is reflected. It is this reflected light that happens to fall on
our delicate retinas thus producing a complete colour picture.
The
red colour is derived from the pigments called as anthocyanins, these develop
and immask the fruit as it grows. The same phenomenon can be witnessed in
cherries, raspberries, cranberries and other red fruits. Having a variety of
medicinal values, these anthocyanins serve a small purpose of 'White Knight'
for the plants by absorbing the excessive light flux which has a potential to
damage the chlorophylls. But, Behold! There's something more that these White
knights unknowingly do, their rich colour which we, humans and some animals,
perceive as 'Red', is a colour of caution & attraction, It draws over a
swarming number of pollinating insects and arboreal animals towards it. The
only reason behind all this being the colour 'Red'. Isn't it beautiful how
a small natural phenomenon can depict a magnanimous aspect of the world?
The Fruity results of Evolution:
In
1859, Charles Darwin published his first formulated book “ On The Origin Of
Species ”, a text so controversial and radical that it shaped the human mindset
so drastically over the next decades. The key ‘Natural Selection’ remains the
central crux idea of the whole wide web of biological diversity. You might be
wondering why did we suddenly step into this big pool straight from the subject
of colours and apples, but there’s an elementary reason behind it, we are
diving a bit deeper so as to understand why the nature picked the colour ‘red’
for her baby ‘apple’.
Evolution
brings about a colossal change but it also costs an eon. All the fundamental
characteristic questions such as, ‘Why does a Cheetah has spots ?’ or ‘ Why do
lions hunt ’ etc, always have an evolutionary answer to them that clearly and
logically gets rid of our small creeping doubts and presents the world in its
uttermost scientific state.
In
case of our apple study, we will be looking at it through two different points
of views one being the ‘modern synthesis’ while other being the ‘Lamarckism’.
Before starting to give a brief description of what these two are, I would like
you to note that Lamarckism is not widely accepted today and is an almost
discarded theory, yet we will be discussing it here because it provides
precious ideas and insights of evolutionary theory.
Lamarckism:
Lamarckism,
an inaccurately named notion after the French biologist Jean Lamarck, is a
hypothetical idea that says that an organism passes its physical
characteristics over to its offspring which it acquires over its lifetime. One
of the fundamental laws of this theory dictates that a new organ or a feature
is obtained in an organism once it feels the arising need of it and passes down
this information to its offspring biologically. And in our analysis, this shall
be the only needed point from Lamarckism.
Now,
if we were to say that - suppose Apples weren’t red at the beginning but only
slightly reddish due to the availability of anthocyanins in smaller amounts,
then Lamarckism provides a pretty explanation to this – The reddish apples
biologically gathered the info that Reddish Apples were more favoured by the
pollinators, and hence this characteristic being passed down to the next
generations, the apples grew redder and redder until they were finally red.
But
this explanation seems to be supported by some rather vague assumptions that
the apples had indeed some anthocyanin in them and were not red but of some
other dull colour. Hence, one would say that this isn’t quite satisfactory and
it still leaves some potholes yet to be filled. No worries! We only discussed
this part so as to ready your mind on how really an evolutionary explanation
works. Thus far, this isn’t really a proper explanation since we used the now
discarded, Lamarckism, We shall proceed with the theory of ‘Modern Synthesis’.
Modern Synthesis:
Modern
Synthesis, a theory so profound and unique that it binds the genetic foundation
with the notion of natural selection. Combining Mendelian notions along with
Darwin's, this synthesis was marked at the dawn of early 20th Century. We shall
not endeavour to the depths of modern synthesis but only scratch the bare
surface and pull out things that we need. The most important law of the modern
synthesis that we are going to need is that, ' Mutation is perfectly natural
and possible and it's the key to progressive Evolution.' Mutation is nothing
but a damage or change in the DNA gene in such a way that it alters the genetic
message carried by that gene, which ultimately results in changes in the
organisms characteristics.
Now
we shall apply this point in our analysis of Apple Colour. So, let's assume
that the long long ago, Apples weren't so red and as a result of some mutations
the anthocyanins in some apples were produced in larger amounts, thus giving
them a bit of reddish colour. Naturally, the arboreal animals and birds would
prefer these redder apples due to their aesthetic attraction. Note here, that
this Is nature's natural selection in work, ultimately only the seeds of redder
apples will be spread by the animals while the rest of them shall slowly
perish. And by such process, the 'Red' made its mark on the Apple.
Now,
this explanation seems pretty fulfilling as to our original question. Finally,
we have a clearer picture of colour origin.
Also,
an interesting to note here is that, Apples weren't always so big, some 2-3
centuries ago, Apples used to be smaller than what they are now. But when the
silk trade began, larger apples were favoured and grafted, as a result
hybridisation took place and the smaller progeny diminished. A sweet example of
selection through human interference.
Conclusion:
So
far, we have explored the existence of colour and a glimpse of its origin in
nature. To conclude, we can safely say that colours are the way we interpret a
certain range of Electromagnetic waves. We shouldn't be surprised if someday
some alien arrives who 'hears' colours instead of seeing them. That would be
just his way of taking in the information that nature provides. Further, the
material existence of the property 'Colour' is very questionable since we only
know them to exist in our pretty little brains.
When
it came to the evolutionary origin of colour, we explored the scientific reason
behind colour i.e the various pigments that gave organisms their colour while
the process of natural selection and mutation that gave them their specific
colour.
When
these two notions are well combined, they settle our knowledge of colours in a
profound state.
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