what is melanin made of
Melanin /ËmÉlÉnÉªn/ (Greek: Î¼Î­Î»Î±Ï - melas, black, dark) is a broad term for a group of natural pigments found in most organisms (arachnids are one of the few groups in which it has not been detected). Melanin is produced by the oxidation of the amino acid tyrosine, followed by polymerization.he most common type of melanin is eumelanin. There are two types of eumelaninâbrown eumelanin and black eumelanin. Pheomelanin is a cysteine-containing red polymer of benzothiazine units largely responsible for red hair, among other pigmentation. Neuromelanin is found in the brain, though its function remains obscure.
Function of skin pigment. Melanin is a naturally produced polymer found in a multitude of locations in the body, from the eye and ear, to the brain and skin. Each different location contains a different variety of melanin, such as neuromelanin in the brain, and eumelanin and pheomelanin in the skin.here reference is made to melanin in the text, eumelanin is implied. It is known that the melanin in the skin acts as a pigment, but the importance of melanin in most of the other organs is not well understood.