Do plants excrete?

1 ANSWERS

1. Brett
   

   Plants do not need food like animals. They use light energy to make all the organic compounds they require from carbon dioxide, water, and about 14 mineral nutrients they absorb from the soil. Probably the only metabolic waste product of most plants is oxygen, which readily diffuses out of the leaves.
   
   Nonphotosynthetic plant parts and photosynthetic plant parts at night produce excess carbon dioxide which might be considered a waste product. However, carbon dioxide is essential to plants for photosynthesis. Overall plants absorb much more carbon dioxide than they excrete.
   
   Certain salt-tolerant plants (called halophytes) sometimes accumulate mineral nutrients or salts that they excrete onto their leaves. Many plants produce secondary substances such as caffeine, latex, and nicotine that were once thought to be waste products. However, it is now believed that secondary compounds have functions in the plant. Many secondary
   compounds deter herbivores.

   Report (1) (0)  |   12 years, 9 month(s) ago