The key difference between chlorophyll and carotenoids is that the chlorophyll is a family of green colour pigments primarily used for photosynthesis in photosynthetic organisms while the carotenoids are a group of yellow to red colour pigments including carotenes and xanthophylls that are accessory pigments.
The pigment is a colourful chemical compound that reflects a certain wavelength of visible light. It is responsible for giving the characteristic colours to many objects including flowers, paints, fruits, leaves, corals, etc. A specific pigment absorbs a particular wavelength of visible light and reflects a different wavelength that is visible to our naked eye. In photosynthetic organisms, green colour pigments called chlorophylls play a major role in the process of photosynthesis. Another pigment group called carotenoids is also able to absorb light, but they cannot involve directly with the photosynthetic pathway. They are yellow, orange and red colour pigments.
