You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Spanish. (February 2016)Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Spanish article. Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consideradding a topic to this template: there are already 1,124 articles in themain category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:Fitomelanina]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template{{Translated|es|Fitomelanina}} to thetalk page. For more guidance, seeWikipedia:Translation.

Phytomelanin (phytomelan) is a black, inert, organic material that forms a crust-like covering of some seeds, commonly found inAsparagales andAsteraceae but uncommon in other taxonomic groupings. Phytomelanin is found in most families of the Asparagales (although not inOrchidaceae). It is mechanically hard and forms a resistant substance, although it is more pliable in the developing fruit, hardening later. Chemically it appears to be a polyvinyl aromatic alcohol, and is thought to be exuded from the hypodermis. It appears to provide resistance to insect predators and desiccation.^[1][2][3]

• Asparagales
• Asteraceae
• Phytochemicals

• Articles needing translation from Spanish Wikipedia