Photosynthesis-A Most Important Chemical Reaction in the Living World.

What is Photosynthesis?

Photosynthesis is a chemical process. In this process, green plants and certain other organisms capture light energy to convert water, carbon dioxide and minerals into oxygen and organic compounds.

Photosynthesis may be the most important chemical reaction in the living world. Because it releases oxygen and traps carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It sustains all food chains in the ecosystem.

Photosynthesis takes place in the plant cell organelle called the Chloroplast. It contains a pigment called Chlorophyll that gives plants their green colour. Chlorophyll absorbs the blue and red parts of the light spectrum and reflects green light. This makes most plants appear green 🌿. It is also responsible for harvesting photons of light for photosynthesis.

Can we get starch, protein and fat from vegetarian foods?

The glucose produced as a result of photosynthesis in plants is easily soluble in water. A large number of green plants convert glucose into starch right after it is formed through a process called polymerization.

 Plants convert glucose to sucrose, fats, proteins, starch, fructose etc. and store them in various plant parts. For e.g., it is stored in legume plants as protein, in oilseeds as fat, and tubers as starch.

Importance of Photosynthesis in Ocean

Roughly one-half of the Oxygen production on Earth occurs in the oceans. Phytoplanktons like cyanobacteria and golden algae are responsible for a significant fraction of primary production of Oxygen in open seawater. 

Cyanobacteria, red algae and glaucophytes have the supramolecular light-harvesting antenna called phycobilisome. It helps in the selective absorption of light energy.

The phycobilisome allows absorption and transfer of light energy to chlorophyll for photosynthesis. These oceanic phytoplanktons and algae are called the chief producers of the oceanic ecosystem. About 70-80% of oxygen in the atmosphere is contributed by it.

Note: Contents published here has been taken from various sources for reference purpose. Readers are requested to do their own study before using them in any medium.