Food: Any substance that can be broken down through chemical processes in the body of an organism to give energy is called food.
Nutrition: The process of taking in food and drink by living organisms and using it for the purpose of growth and daily activities is called nutrition.
Autotrophic nutrition: The mode of nutrition whereby a living organism makes its own food is called autotrophic nutrition.
Photoautotrophs: The green plants which obtain energy from sunlight are called photoautotrophs.
Pigment: A naturally occuring substance that gives a particular colour to a plant or an animal part.
Chlorophyll: A green pigment present in the leaves in structures called chloroplasts.
Stoma: A tiny opening or pore, found mostly on the undersurface of a plant leaf, and used for gas exchange. (plural: stomata)
Photosynthesis: The process of using sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates (starch) and oxygen is called photosynthesis.
Thylakoids: Disc-like structures present in the chloroplast are called thylakoids.
Grana: Stacks of thylakoids are called grana.
Stroma: The fluid matrix in a chloroplast is called stroma.
Heterotrophs: Organisms which are incapable of photosynthesising, obtain certain organic compounds from other autotrophs are called heterotrophs.
Heterotrophic nutrition: The mode of nutrition in which organisms cannot manufacture food and have to depend on other plants and animals to obtain energy is called heterotrophic nutrition.
Saprophytic plants: Plants that live off rotting material are called saprophytic plants.
Insectivorous plants: Those plants that derive some or most of the nutrients by trapping and consuming animals mainly insects are called insectivorous plants.
Symbiotic plants: Plants which live in association with other species for food resources are called symbiotic plants.
Parasitic plants: Plants that absorb food from another growing green plant (host) are called parasitic plants.
Host: The animal or plant on which or in which another organism lives.
