What process allows plants to make their own food?

Plants make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. This process occurs primarily in the leaves, where chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants, captures sunlight. During photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil. Using energy from sunlight, they convert these raw materials into glucose (a type of sugar) and oxygen. The glucose produced serves as food for the plant, providing the energy necessary for growth, reproduction, and other vital functions, while oxygen is released as a byproduct into the atmosphere.

This ability to synthesize their own food defines plants as autotrophs, setting them apart from organisms that must consume other living beings for energy. Other processes, like respiration, transpiration, and fermentation, do not describe how plants produce their own food. Respiration is the process by which plants break down glucose for energy. Transpiration refers to the loss of water vapor from plant surfaces, primarily through tiny openings called stomata. Fermentation is an anaerobic process involved in energy production in certain organisms, often occurring when oxygen is unavailable, but it does not relate to how plants create food.