Plants & Mineral Ions (Edexcel IGCSE Biology)

Mineral Ions

• Photosynthesis provides a source of carbohydrates, but plants contain and require many other types of biological molecule; such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids (DNA)

• As plants do not eat, they need to make these substances themselves

• Carbohydrates contain the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen but proteins, for example, contain nitrogen as well (and certain amino acids contain other elements too)

• Two fundamental mineral ions required by plants are nitrogen and magnesium, without a source of these elements, plants cannot photosynthesise or grow properly

• Plants obtain these elements in the form of mineral ions actively absorbed from the soil by root hair cells

• ‘Mineral’ is a term used to describe any naturally occurring inorganic substance

Mineral ion function and deficiencies in plants table

The effect of mineral deficiencies on plants