MELANIN

melanin is the primary determinant of skin color and also found in hairs.The melanin in the skin is produced by melanocytes.Melanin produced by plants are sometimes referred to as 'catechol melanins' as they can yield catechol on alkali fusion.Melanin is brown, non-refractile, and finely granular with individual granules having a diameter of less than 800 nanometers.Melanocytes insert granules of melanin into specialized cellular vesicles called melanosomes.humans, exposure to sunlight stimulates the skin to produce vitamin D. Because high levels of cutaneous melanin act as a natural sun screen.Melanin in the eyes, in the iris and choroid, helps protect them from ultraviolet and high-frequency visible light.melanin may serve a protective role other than photoprotection.The melanin in the skin is produced by melanocytes, which are found in the basal layer of the epidermis.melanin is an aggregate of smaller component molecules, there are many different types of melanin with differing proportions and bonding patterns of these component molecules.pheomelanin and eumelanin are found in human skin and hair.Neuromelanin (NM) is a dark insoluble polymer pigment produced in specific populations of catecholaminergic neurons in the brain.The darker feathers of birds owe their color to melanin.In addition to melanin deficiency, the molecular weight of the melanin polymer may be decreased by various factors such as oxidative stress, exposure to light, perturbation in its association with melanosomal matrix proteins, changes in pH, or in local concentrations of metal ions