Plant nutrition notes

Green plants photosynthesize when

there is light.

Photosynthesis is summarized by the

equation:

Carbon dioxide + water + light energy

--glucose + oxygen.

During photosynthesis:
• Light energy is absorbed by a green
substance called chlorophyll which is
found in Chloroplasts in some plant
cells;
• This energy is used by converting
carbon dioxide and water into a sugar
(glucose);
• Oxygen is released as a by-product.
The rate of photosynthesis may be
limited by:
• Low temperature;
• Shortage of carbon dioxide;
• Shortage of light.

The glucose produced in photosynthesis

may be converted into insoluble starch
for storage.

Plant cells use some of the glucose

produced during photosynthesis for
respiration.

Plant roots absorb mineral salts

including nitrate needed for healthy
growth.

Light, temperature and availability of

carbon dioxide interact and in practice
any one of them may be the factor that
limits photosynthesis.

Plant Nutrition

The energy released by plants during

respiration is used to build up smaller
molecules into larger molecules:
• Sugars into starch.
• Sugars into cellulose for cell walls.
• Sugars, nitrates and other nutrients
into amino acids which are then built up
into proteins.
• Sugars into lipids (fats or oils) for
storage in seeds.
For healthy growth plants also need
mineral ions including:
• Nitrate – for the synthesis of proteins;
• Phosphate – which has an important
role in the reactions involved in
photosynthesis and respiration
• Potassium – which helps enzymes
involved in photosynthesis and
respiration to work.

The symptoms shown by plants growing

in conditions where mineral ions are
deficient
include:
• Stunted growth and yellow older
leaves if nitrate ions are deficient;
• Poor root growth and purple younger
leaves if phosphate ions are deficient;
• Yellow leaves with dead spots if
potassium ions are deficient.
 PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Green Plants make food from simple raw
materials, e.g. CO2, water, nitrates, etc. They
make more food than they need, and the
surplus is stored. Animals eat plants for food,
thus life is dependent on green plants, which are
called producers.

Plants make carbohydrates by photosynthesis.

Fats can be made from carbohydrates. Amino-
acids can also be formed from photosynthetic
products provided the plants absorb nitrates.
Proteins are built up from the amino-acids.

HOW PHOTOSYNTHESIS OCCURS

Plants absorb CO2 from the air and water from
the soil. Chlorophyll, a green pigment in
chloroplasts of leaf cells, absorbs light
energy. This energy is used to build up sugar
from the CO2 and water. The sugar, being
soluble, could cause adverse osmotic
effects. So it is converted to insoluble starch by
the enzyme diastase and stored.
Photosynthesis can be summarised by the
following equation:-
6CO2 + 6H2O + light---- C6H12O6 + 6O2

HOW CAN YOU TELL IF A PLANT IS

PHOTOSYNTHESISING?
1. Demonstrate that the plant has produced
sugar or starch.
2. Demonstrate that the plant has produced
oxygen.

TESTING A LEAF FOR SUGAR

Grind up a piece of leaf with water. Filter off
the debris. Transfer the filtrate to a test-tube.
Add a little Benedict’s reagent.
Heat in a water-bath of boiling water. A red
precipitate indicates sugar.

TESTING A LEAF FOR STARCH

Boil the leaf until it goes limp. Then boil the
leaf in ethanol, heated by boiling water, not a
naked flame (ethanol is
Inflammable),to dissolve out the chlorophyll.
Wash in water, then add a little iodine solution.
A blue-black color I dictates the presence of
starch.
The purpose of boiling the leaf in water is to
enable the iodine solution to penetrate it. The
reason for decolorizing the leaf by
boiling in ethanol is to allow the blue-black
color to show up. Washing in water softens the
leaf which is hardened by the ethanol.

FACTORS NECESSARY FOR

PHOTOSYNTHESIS
The equation above shows that the following are
needed for photosynthesis:-
1. Carbon dioxide: needed to make sugar.
2. Water: also needed to make sugar, and
provides the oxygen involved.
3. Sunlight: provides energy for photosynthesis.
4. Chlorophyll: a pigment in chloroplasts,
which absorbs light energy
In addition, the plant must be able to produce
enzymes needed to bring about photosynthesis,
e.g. diastase to convert sugar to
starch, and it must be warm enough for the
enzymes to work.

LIGHT
Sunlight is a mixture of different colours, red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
This may be shown by passing light through a
prism and projecting the light onto a screen.
Chlorophyll does not absorb all the color in
white light. This can be shown by using a
spectroscope. This splits light into its
color spectrum. If chlorophyll solution is placed
in front of the instrument and light passed
through, those colors absorbed by
the chlorophyll will be missing from the
spectrum, causing absorption bands. These
will appear at the red and blue ends of
the spectrum. Green is not absorbed, and this
explains why chlorophyll is green in color.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT

PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Experiments have been carried out which show
that the oxygen produced by photosynthesis
comes only from the water. Thus,
the equation for photosynthesis is only an
approximation for what really happens. We now
know that there are two main stages
in photosynthesis.
1. The light reaction
2. The dark reaction

In the light reaction, light energy is used to

split water into hydrogen atoms and oxygen
molecules. The oxygen molecules are
not needed and are not used by the plant.

In the dark reaction the hydrogen atoms are

used to reduce carbon dioxide, forming sugar.
The sugar is then converted to
starch by diastase and stored.
FACTORS AFFECTING THE RATE OF
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
The rate of photosynthesis may be measured by
estimating the amount of oxygen given out in a
given time. The more oxygen given out, the
faster the rate of photosynthesis. Various factors
affect the rate of photosynthesis, the most
important being:-

1. Light Intensity: photosynthesis increases as

light intensity increases, up to an optimum,
when other factors limit the rate
of photosynthesis.

2. Color of light:
: photosynthesis is faster in red and blue light,
there is very little or no photosynthesis in green
light.

3. CO2 Concentration: as CO2 concentration

increases the rate of photosynthesis increases,
up to an optimum, when other
factors come into play.

4. Temperature: temperature affects the rate at

which enzymes work, thus, at low temperatures
rate of photosynthesis is
slow.
Oxygen output can be measured by counting the
number of bubbles given off in a minute by an
aquatic plant. But this method is inaccurate
because bubbles may vary in size. Alternatively,
the oxygen given off can be collected and
measured, using a micro-burette.

In land plants, the time for bicarbonate indicator

solution to turn from red to purple may be used
to estimate the rate of
photosynthesis.

SEE PRACTICAL WORK ON THE

INVESTIGATION OF FACTORS
AFFECTING THE RATE OF
PHOTOSYNTHESIS.

COMPENSATION POINT
Plants, like animals, respire. Respiration
involves absorbing oxygen and giving out
carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis occurs
during the daytime, and involves absorbing
carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen.
Photosynthesis in the daytime is faster than
respiration, thus more carbon dioxide is
absorbed than given out. Similarly, during
daytime more oxygen is evolved than
absorbed.
The compensation point is the light intensity
which produces a rate of photosynthesis
whereby the amount of CO2 absorbed
and oxygen evolved is the same as the amount
of CO2 given off and oxygen absorbed when the
plant respires. In other words,
the compensation point is the light intensity
when net gaseous exchange is zero.