MELANIN OF HUMAN HAIR 147 Amount of Extractable Protein iOOZ , • 98Z 96Z 1 2 3 4 Figure S. Purification ooe melanin granules by HCI hydrolysis. Number of HCl hydrolyses On the other hand, observation of red or blond hair sections shows organelles (possibly associated with phaeomelanin) which differ from the former ones, since they are not as dense and fine internal structures are visible. It has been claimed that phaeomelanin is responsible for the red color of hair and feathers (32). Extracted eumelanin from brown or black hair keeps its rice grain shape because melanin granules are dense, but extracted eumelanin from red or blond hair could not keep the '•' "•'.•. •..,t -• ' '7,. • • ,. •L•.•. -' •-•,,• .•--•. :•r.•'•:-...•. ß •.,-.• •., '.j'•--• • .•- : -. . ..• . .. V•%- --• • •.•.., z ':: "" • •?• :' • •' '-• , • • ..:• •:(:•-.•r .' '.:.,w' ."•C • '"" • ' • . .•. '---.-......- .p2 :: : 0.3P Figure 6. Electron micrograph of melanin granules extracted from Italian brown hair (a). Single granule (b).

148 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS Figure 7. Electron micrograph of melanin granule extracted from Japanese black hair. shape of organelles, mainly because of the near-complete disappearance of its protein matrix. All isolated melanins are brown in color and give, after solubilization in alkaline hydrogen peroxide solutions, dark brown solutions of the same intensity, given the same conditions of concentration and solubilization. The melanin solubilization is independent of hair origin (Italian, Japanese, Irish or Scandinavian). The quantities of extracted eumelanin depend on the kind of hair, as shown in Table VII. On the other hand, some differences, especially in sulfur content, are found (Table Table VII Melanin Contents of Human Hair Samples Source of Pigment Melanin Content (%) Italian Brown Hair 1.1 Japanese Black Hair 2 Irish Red Hair 0.3 Scandinavian Blond Hair 0.06 Albino Hair 0