本文首次有系統地檢測22種野生高等植物之葉片及其68個非葉綠色組織（non-leaf green tissue, NLGT）之葉綠素含量及a／b比值。非葉綠色組織包括莖、果柄、果實、果皮、花萼、花瓣、花柄、花苞、葉柄、芽、或種子等。當葉片的葉綠素含量介於1230μg／g 與4349μg／g而其平均值是2733μg／g時，非葉綠色組織則介於30μg／g與1749μg／g而其平均值為315μg／g，兩者相差約8.5倍。當葉片的葉綠素a／b比之平均值約為3.09±0.45時，非葉綠色組織則約為2.80±0.56。與文獻紀錄比較，非葉綠色組織可能可以視為葉片的另一種缺葉綠素突變種（chlorophyll-deficient mutant）。此隱含著，許多陸生非葉綠色組織已演化出類似於葉片之葉綠體及其類囊膜系統之形態與結構，但因葉綠素含量之大幅減少，非葉綠色組織之光合作用總產量可能遠低於葉片。依此推論，高等植物兩光合系統之演化，可能先達成系統間質的平衡（qualitative balance between systems），而後再增加兩系統之數量（qualities of systems）。
This research first systematically investigated the content of chlorophyll a and b (Chl a+b), and Chl a/b ratios of 22 higher plant leaves and their 68 non-leaf green tissues (NLGT), such as fruit skin, seed coat, cotyledon, sepal, petal, stem skin, and so forth. While the quantities of Chl a+b is between 1230μg/g and 4349μg/g in leaf and its average Chl a+b content is 2733μg/g, that is between 30μg/g and 1749μg/g in NLGT and its average is 315μg/g, the former is about 8.5 fold of the latter. The Chl a/b ratio is 3.09±0.45 in leaf, whereas that is 2.80±0.56 in NLGT. In comparison with literature, NLGT may be treated as a group of chlorophyll-deficient mutant of normal higher plant leaf. The data indicated that NLGT of terrestrial higher plants have evolved chloroplast and thylakoid membrane similar to their corresponding leaf. However, the low quantity of Chl a+b content may cause the lower photosynthetic total productivity. It is expected that the two photosystems have evolved to reach qualitative balance between systems first, then to increase the photosynthesis productivity.
