Nutrition In Plants Class 7th NCERT Notes

J&K NCERT 7th Class Notes

Introduction

Nutrition is the basic process in living things.All other life functions are possible only because of the Nutrition. Nutrition is the process of taking food by an organism and its utilization.

You know that plants prepare their own food whereas animals depend on plants for their food.Let us now study about the different modes of nutrition in plants

Modes of Nutrition in Plants

Autotrophic Nutrition

Green plants prepare their own food from raw materials like water, carbon dioxide and sunlight.This mode of nutrition is called autotrophic mode of nutrition.Thus green plants are referred to as Autotrophs.

Heterotrophic Nutrition

Animals and most other organisms such as non-green plants cant prepare their own food and thus depend directly or indirectly on food prepared by plants.This is known as heterotrophic mode of nutrition and hence, animals are called Heterotrophs.

Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis (Photo= light; synthesis = to prepare) etymologically means to prepare food from sunlight. Green plants prepare their own food from raw materials such as water and carbon dioxide in presence of sunlight.This process of preparing food with the help of sunlight is called photosynthesis. The chemical equation to represent photosynthesis is given below.

6CO₂+ 6H₂O -^{Chlorophyll and sunlight}----> C₆H₁₂O₆+ 6O₂

Chlorophyll

It is the green coloured pigment found mostly in leaves and branches of plants. This pigment traps solar energy in the leaves and prepares food with its help.That is why leaves are caled the food factories of plants.

Stomata 

These are the small pores on leaves through which exchange of gasses takes place in plants. During transpiration water is also transpired from leaves through stomatal openings.

Besides plants algae also prepare their food by photosynthesis.They may contain brown pigment besides green.

Synthesis of foods other than carbohydrates

As the food prepared by photosynthesis is in the form of carbohydrates.It contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. 

As proteins require nitrogen for their synthesis, nitrogen is obtained by plants as nitrogen compounds from the soil.This nitrogen is fixed through lighting and by nitrogen fixing bacteria.

Other Modes of Nutrition in Plants

Heterotrophic Nutrition

Animals depend on plants for their food as they can not prepare their own food.However, there are some plant types that do not prepare their food, they are heterotrophs or partially heterotrophs. Let us know about them in more detail

Parasites:- 

There are some plants that grow on other plants and suck the nutrients prepared by them. A good example of parasitic plants is  amerbel which does not contain chlorophyll and gets nutrition from the host plant on which it grows.

Insectivorous Plants

There are some plants that may have a dual mode of nutrition. Their leaves may contain the green or other pigment and they also eat small animals. An excellent example of insectivorous plants is pitcher plant which has a pitcher like structure that traps insects and sucks their nutrients and digests them.

Saprotrophic Nutrition

Some non green plants like fungi and mushroom grow on organic remains of organisms.They derive their food from them. Thus the mode of nutrition in which an organism derives its nutrients from dead or decaying matter is called Saprotrophic mode of nutrition and such plants are referred to as saprotrophs.

Symbiotic Relationship

There are some plants that live together and their existence is beneficial for each other.Take the 

example of some fungi living in the roots of trees.Plants provide nutrients to the fungi and fungi in turn helps the trees to absorb water and nutrients from the soil.

Note of Thanks

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