Biochemistry/Respiratory Pigments
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In humans, these pigments include haemoglobin and myoglobin, the latter is present in red muscle fibres. Haemoglobin is a coordination compound of iron. It had attachement sites for gases, namely oxygen and carbon dioxide. Its reactivity depends upon partial pressure of these gases. The presence of heme makes it appear red coloured. Myoglobin is present in muslces to make available extra oxygen.