Objective To investigate the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of leaf colorization of two Liquidambar formosana families under different light quality to provide reference for exploring the response of leaf color to light quality.

Method The change of the chlorophyll, carotenoid, anthocyanin, soluble sugar, flavonoid and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) contents in L. formosana leaves were assessed. The relationship among all indexes was also discussed.

Result The leaf color of L. formosana was slightly changed from green to red or dark red during the experiment. In addition, the change of leaf color of the 2 L. formosana families showed difference. The content of chlorophyll of L. formosana in the red light treatment group was significantly higher than that in other treatment groups, while the chlorophyll content in the blue light treatment group was significantly lower compared with that in other treatment groups. The contents of anthocyanin of the 2 L. formosana families were significantly improved under blue light treatment, while the contrary trend was observed in red treatment. At the same time, blue light treatment significantly increased the contents of carotenoid, soluble sugar and flavonoids and phenylalanine ammonia enzyme activity. Variance analysis indicated that different light treatments had significant effects on the content of chlorophyll within the L. formosana leaves, while the effects on the concentration of anthocyanin and carotenoid were indistinctive.

Conclusion The change of leaf color of the 2 L. formosana families shows the same trend under the different spectrum light treatments, the red light treatment can promote the synthesis of chlorophyll; however, the concentration of anthocyanin in blue light treatment is higher than that in other spectrum light treatments.