Photosynthesis, is a food-making process that occurs in green plants. Photosynthesis is the chief function of leaves. The word photosynthesis means putting together with light.
Green plants use energy from light to combine carbon dioxide and water to make food. All our food comes from this important energy-converting activity of green plants. Light energy is converted to chemical energy and is stored in the food that is made by green plants. Animals eat the plants, and we eat animal products as well as plants. The light used in photosynthesis is absorbed by a green pigment called chlorophyll. Each food-making cell in a plant leaf contains chlorophyll in small bodies called chloroplasts.

Green plants convert carbon dioxide and water into food and oxygen. Plants and animals, in turn, "burn" the food by combining it with oxygen to release energy for growth and other activities of life. This process, which is called respiration, is the reverse of photosynthesis. Oxygen is used up and carbon dioxide and water are given off. Plants then use the carbon dioxide and water to produce more food and oxygen. The cycle of photosynthesis and respiration maintains the earth's natural balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen.
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David H. Wagner, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Northwest Botanical Institute. -

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