Nutrition is the process of feeding and utilizing of food for energy provision, growth, development, repair and maintenance of the overall body health. Or
Nutrition is the study of the relationship between diet, health and diseases.
Autotrophic nutrition.
Heterotrophic nutrition.
Note: In this chapter you will learn about autotrophic nutrition
Therefore: Autotrophs are organisms that are capable for making their own food for their own use and for other organisms.
Example of Autotrophs are green plants, green algae and some bacteria such as
cyanobacteria.
Photoautotrophs. These are organisms that obtain their energy from sunlight in order to make their own food. They make their own food using water and carbondioxide in the presence of chlorophyll and sunlight through the process called photosynthesis.
Nutrition is the study of the relationship between diet, health and diseases.
TYPES OF NUTRITION
There are two major types of nutrition, based on how organisms obtain their food, namely:Autotrophic nutrition.
Heterotrophic nutrition.
Note: In this chapter you will learn about autotrophic nutrition
AUTOTROPHIC NUTRITION
Autotrophic nutrition is a type of nutrition whereby organisms manufacture their own food from simple inorganic substance such as carbondioxide and water. The organisms that manufacture their own food are known as autotrophs. Autotrophs manufacture food by using either light energy (photosynthesis) or chemical energy (chemosynthesis). The term autotrophs originate from two Greek words “auto” which mean “self” and “trophy” which means “feed” hence autotrophs mean “self-feeding”.Therefore: Autotrophs are organisms that are capable for making their own food for their own use and for other organisms.
Example of Autotrophs are green plants, green algae and some bacteria such as
cyanobacteria.
TYPES OF AUTOTROPHS
Chemoautotrophs. These are organism that obtain their energy from chemical substances like hydrogen sulphide, iron, methane and ammonia. They use the energy obtained from these chemicals to make their own food in form of carbohydrates through the process of chemosynthesis. Example of chemoautotrophs are some bacteria (archaebacterial) that live in harsh environment.Photoautotrophs. These are organisms that obtain their energy from sunlight in order to make their own food. They make their own food using water and carbondioxide in the presence of chlorophyll and sunlight through the process called photosynthesis.