• Question: Do plants use fat and if so why do they need it?

    Asked by runion to Charlotte, hannahmoir, Majid, Richard, Sam on 8 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Hannah Moir

      Hannah Moir answered on 8 Mar 2016:


      In plants, fat stores are typically structural, such as starch, and cell membranes

    • Photo: Richard Sulston

      Richard Sulston answered on 8 Mar 2016:


      Yes plants do use fats, they are most commonly found in the seeds and nuts of the plants. This is how we can extract oils such as vegetable or sunflower oil from plants. Fats and oils from plants are generally considered to be healthier than fats from animals such as butter or lard.

      The reason plants need fat is very similar to why we need it. It is a more dense store of energy (a specific weight of fat will contain more energy than the same weight of carbohydrates). The reason that nuts and seeds are so high in fat is that when they are growing in the ground they don’t have any leaves yet so can’t make their own energy by photosynthesis and so need to rely on the stored fat to grow their first leaves.

      Hope that helps.

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