Photosynthetic nutrition for health and life

Photosynthetic nutrition for health and life

Living organisms are constantly reacting chemically, resulting in energy changes in their bodies. All of these reactions and changes are called metabolism. Basically, metabolism consists of two processes: the synthesis or construction of complex body substances from simpler components and energy, and the decomposition or breakdown of these complex substances and energy. The first process is known as anabolism and the second as catabolism.

One of the main features of living organisms is the ability to feed. This is called nutrition. Nutrition is therefore the process of obtaining energy and materials for cellular metabolism, including cell maintenance and repair and growth. In living organisms, nutrition is a complex series of both anabolic and catabolic processes through which food consumed into the body is converted into complex body substances (mainly for growth) and energy (for work). In animals, the foods consumed are usually in the form of complex, insoluble compounds. These are broken down into simpler compounds that can be absorbed by the cells. In plants, complex food materials are first synthesized by the plant cells and then distributed to all parts of the plant body. Here they are converted into simpler, soluble forms that can be absorbed into the protoplasm of each cell. The raw materials required to synthesize these complex food materials are obtained from air and soil in the plant environment.

All living organisms that cannot provide their own energy supply either through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis are called heterostrophs or heterostrophic organisms. Heterostrophic means feeding on others. All animals are heterostrophs. Other organisms such as many types of bacteria, some flowering plants and all fungi use this method of nutrition. The way heterostrophs obtain their food varies greatly. However, the way the food is converted into usable form in the body is in most cases very similar. However, all green plants have the ability to produce carbohydrates from certain raw materials in the air and soil. This ability is important not only for the plants themselves, but also for animals, including humans, that directly or indirectly depend on plants for food.

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants produce their food using solar energy and available raw materials. It is the production of carbohydrates in plants. It only takes place in the chlorophyll (i.e. green) cells of leaves and stems. These green cells contain chloroplasts, which are essential for the synthesis of food. All raw materials required for photosynthesis, namely water and mineral salts from the soil and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, must therefore be transported to the chlorophyll cells, which are most abundant in leaves.

The tiny pores or stomata, usually more common on the lower surfaces of most leaves, allow gases from the atmosphere to enter the tissue. A stoma is an oval epidermal cell known as a guard cell. Each stoma is actually the opening of a substomatal air chamber. This is a large intercellular air space that lies adjacent to the stoma. It is continuous with other intercellular air spaces in the leaf. The size of each stomatal pore depends on the curvature of the guard cells flanking it. When the guard cells are filled with water, they swell or bulge, and consequently the pore opens. However, when the water level is low, they become soft or flabby and as a result collapse, causing the pores to close. When the stoma is open, air enters the substomatal chamber and diffuses through the intercellular air, which dissolves in the water surrounding the cells. This carbon dioxide solution then diffuses into the leaf cells, particularly the palisade cells. Here it is used by the chloroplasts for photosynthesis.

Water containing dissolved mineral salts such as phosphates, chlorides and bicarbonates of sodium, potassium, calcium iron and magnesium is absorbed from the soil by the roots. This soil water enters the root hairs through a process called osmosis. The water molecule is moved through a semi-permeable membrane from an area of ​​lower concentration to an area of ​​higher concentration. It is then carried upward by the xylem tissue from the roots through the stem to the leaves. It is transported to all cells via the vein and its branches.

The chloroplasts contain the green pigment (chlorophyll), which gives plants color and can absorb light energy from sunlight. This energy is used for one of the first essential steps of photosynthesis. namely the splitting of the water molecule into oxygen and hydrogen. This oxygen is released into the atmosphere. The hydrogen components used also reduce carbon dioxide in a series of enzymes and energy-consuming reactions to form complex organic compounds such as sugars and starches.

During photosynthesis, high-energy compounds such as carbohydrates are synthesized from low-energy compounds such as carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll. Since solar energy is required for photosynthesis, the process cannot occur at night because there is no sunlight. The end products of photosynthesis are carbohydrates and oxygen. The former is distributed across all parts of the system. The latter is released into the atmosphere as a gas through the stomata in exchange for the carbon dioxide absorbed. The occurrence of photosynthesis in green leaves can be demonstrated by experiments showing the absorption of carbon dioxide, water and energy by the leaves and the production of oxygen and carbohydrates. Simple experiments can be performed to demonstrate the release of oxygen by green plants, the formation of carbohydrates (namely starch) in leaves, and the requirement for carbon dioxide, sunlight and chlorophyll for the formation of starch in green leaves.

Physiology experiments involve placing biological material, such as plants and animals, or parts of plants and animals, in unusual conditions, such as: B. glasses, cages or boxes. If an experiment is conducted to demonstrate the effects produced by the absence of carbon dioxide during the photosynthesis process, the result of such an experiment may be considered to be due in part to the placement of the biological material in unnatural experimental conditions, therefore necessary to conduct two nearly identical experiments; One is placed under normal conditions (the control experiment) in which all factors necessary for photosynthesis are present, while the other (the test experiment) is placed under a condition in which a single factor is eliminated or varied while all other factors are present. In this way, the experimenter can be sure that the result of his test experiment is due to the eliminated or varied factor and not to the experimental setup. Thus, the control experiment serves as a guide to ensure that the conclusion obtained by the test experiment is not a fallacy.

After certain appropriate experiments, observation clearly shows that oxygen is released only when photosynthesis takes place, that is, during the day. Without sunlight, starch cannot be formed, although the other essential factors such as water, carbon dioxide and chlorophyll can be present.

Photosynthesis is the basic component of nutrition that has played the unity of healthy life and plays an essential role for living organisms. The complex cell structures of plants are built from the main product of photosynthesis, a simple carbohydrate such as glucose. At this stage, it must be clear that although much emphasis has been placed on photosynthesis, the process of protein synthesis is just as important as the former. During protein synthesis, nitrogen-containing compounds absorbed by plants, and in certain cases phosphorus and other elements, combine with glucose to form the various plant proteins.

In addition to contributing to the synthesis of plant proteins, glucose is important because it can be converted into fats and oils after a series of chemical reactions. It is also the primary product from which other organic compounds are formed.

The importance of photosynthesis in all food cycles cannot be overemphasized. Animals are unable to use the sun's energy to synthesize energy-rich compounds from simple, readily available substances such as water and carbon dioxide that are in the atmosphere around us. The melanin and keratin affect the color and strength of the animal's skin as well as some internal damage. From the rays, it is therefore fortunate that plants can use the energy provided by sunlight to synthesize and store energy-rich compounds on which all forms of animal life ultimately depend.

To survive, humans not only eat plant products such as fruit, vegetables and grains, but also animals such as cattle and fish. Cattle and other herbivorous animals are completely dependent on plant life for their existence. While certain fish are herbivorous, others have a mixed diet and a large number are completely carnivorous. Carnivorous animals live indirectly on plants. Their immediate diet consists of smaller animals that must feed themselves, if not entirely, then partially, on plants. Photosynthesis is the first step in all food cycles.

During the photosynthesis process, carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and oxygen is added. If this purification process did not exist in nature, the atmosphere would soon be saturated with the carbon dioxide released during the respiration of animals and plants and during the decomposition of organic matter, so that all life would gradually come to a halt. Without photosynthesis there is no nutrition. And if there is no nutrition, there will be no living thing. And if there are no living creatures on earth, the earth will still be formless and completely empty. There will be no living thing that functions if photosynthesis does not court. I wonder what the fate of living things will be today or at some point if photosynthesis stops.