What do Rf values indicate?

Question

What do the Rf values indicate about the relative solubilities of the pigments in the solvent? What would be the order od solubility if the pigments were separated in water instead of nonpolar mixture we used?

Rf values:

chlorophyll b~ 0.283

chlorophyll a~0.400

violaxanthin~0.517

lutein~0.817

B- carotene~0

Answer 1

The lower the Rf value the less soluble the pigment is in the solvent.  So, for your data the solubilities of the pigment from least to highest would be:  B-carotene, Chl b, Chl a, Viol, lutein.  These Rfs look to me like they were measued in a relatively polar solvent.  If you used a nonpolar solvent the order of migration would be reversed.