Blood component - Plasma

About 55% of whole blood is blood plasma, a fluid that is the blood's liquid medium, which by itself is straw-yellow in color. The blood plasma volume totals of 2.7-3.0 liters in an average human. It is essentially an aqueous solution containing 92% water, 8% blood plasma proteins, and trace amounts of other materials. Plasma circulates dissolved nutrients, such as, glucose, amino acids and fatty acids (dissolved in the blood or bound to plasma proteins), and removes waste products, such as, carbon dioxide, urea and lactic acid.


Other important components include:

Serum albumin
Blood clotting factors (to facilitate coagulation)
Immunoglobulins (antibodies)
Various other proteins
Various electrolytes (mainly sodium and chloride)


The term serum refers to plasma from which the clotting proteins have been removed. Most of the proteins remaining are albumin and immunoglobulins.

Blood component - Cells

Cells :-

One micro liter of blood contains ...

Erythrocytes :- 4.7 to 6.1 million (male), 4.2 to 5.4 million (female) : In mammals, mature red blood cells lack a nucleus and organelles. They contain the blood's hemoglobin and distribute oxygen. The red blood cells (together with endothelial vessel cells and other cells) are also marked by glycoproteins that define the different blood types. The proportion of blood occupied by red blood cells is referred to as the hematocrit, and is normally about 45%. The combined surface area of all the red cells in the human body would be roughly 2,000 times as great as the body's exterior surface.

Leukocytes :- 4,000-11,000 : White blood cells are part of the immune system; they destroy and remove old or aberrant cells and cellular debris, as well as attack infectious agents (pathogens) and foreign substances. The cancer of leukocytes is called leukemia.

Thrombocytes :- 200,000-500,000 :Platelets are responsible for blood clotting (coagulation). They change fibrinogen into fibrin. This fibrin creates a mesh onto which red blood cells collect and clot, which then stops more blood from leaving the body and also helps to prevent bacteria from entering the body.