Plants are living organisms that contain chlorophyll and use it to manufacture their own food naturally. Their cell walls are more or less rigid and support both the individual cells and the whole structure in nature.
Even when plants have reached what we regard as their full, mature size, they continue to expand and develop new leaves, flowers, fruit and shoots which humans, animals and their environment depends on for survival.
Plants provide us with food which is called plant-based diet, fiber, shelter, medicine, and fuel. The basic food for all organisms is produced by green plants. In the process of food production, oxygen is released. This oxygen, which we obtain from the air we breathe, is essential to life.
Human uses of plants
Humans depend on plants for food, either directly or as feed for domestic animals. About 7,000 species of plant have been used for food, though most of today's food is derived from only 30 species. The major staples include cereals such as rice and wheat, starchy roots and tubers such as cassava and potato, and legumes such as peas and beans. Vegetable oils such as olive oil provide lipids, while fruit and vegetables contribute vitamins and minerals to the diet.
Plants grown as industrial crops are the source of a wide range of products used in manufacturing.
Products derived from plants include soaps, shampoos, perfumes, cosmetics, paint, varnish, turpentine, rubber. Renewable fuels from plants include firewood, peat and other biofuels.
The fossil fuels coal, petroleum and natural gas are derived from the remains of aquatic organisms including phytoplankton in geological time.
Plants are a primary source of basic chemicals, both for their medicinal and physiological effects, and for the industrial synthesis of a vast array of organic chemicals.
Many hundreds of medicines are derived from plants, both traditional medicines used in herbalism and chemical substances purified from plants or first identified in them, sometimes by ethnobotanical search, and then synthesized for use in modern medicine. Modern medicines derived from plants include aspirin, taxol, morphine, quinine, reserpine, colchicine, digitalis and vincristine. The pharmacopeia of Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, describing some 600 medicinal plants, was written between 50 and 70 AD and remained in use in Europe and the Middle East until around 1600 AD; it was the precursor of all modern pharmacopeias.
Pesticides derived from plants include nicotine, rotenone, strychnine and pyrethrins.Plants such as tobacco, cannabis, opium poppy, and coca yield psychotropic chemicals.Poisons from plants include atropine, ricin, hemlock and curare, though many of these also have medicinal uses.
In gardening
Plants are the basis of a multibillion-dollar per year tourism industry, which includes travel to historic gardens, national parks, rainforests, forests with colorful autumn leaves, and festivals such as Japan's and America's cherry blossom festivals
Ornamental plants have sometimes changed the course of history, as in tulipomania.
Basic biological research has often been done with plants.
The plant Arabidopsis thaliana is used in laboratories as a model organism to understand how genes control the growth and development of plant structures.
How Do Plants Help the Environment
Plants provide oxygen: Without plants, humans and animals would have less fresh air to breathe. Through the process of photosynthesis, plants release oxygen back into the atmosphere.
Green terrestrial plants make up the rest of atmospheric oxygen that’s essential for the survival of living organisms.
Carbon sinks: Terrestrial and oceanic plants are considered carbon sinks because of their ability to store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Important carbon sink ecosystems include: grasslands, boreal forests, tropical rainforests, peat bogs, wetlands, coral reefs and coastal ecosystems.
Habitats are created by plant diversity: Plants are also important because they provide habitats for wildlife and humans. For example, many species of birds rely on trees and shrubs for habitat, whether they live in the crevices of trees or build nests on branches.
Water cycle regulation: Plants uptake water through their roots and release water vapor through small pores on the underside of their leaves. Through this process of transpiration plants also help circulate water from the soil back into the atmosphere.
Not only that, but plants help stabilize bodies of water such as rivers, lakes and streams. Plant roots improve soil stability, prevent landslides, and keep these ecosystems intact.
In conclusion, the importance of plants are numerous and we cannot cover all in this article. But we have managed to write about its core importance in all categories. Plants provide a healthy environment for humans and animals and when it's considered as a diet, thus it improves human health. There are many plant-based diets that help to boost the immune system and prevent Diabetes while some plants can be used to control cancer in science. Plants should be protected by humans at all cost because without them, there may be no human suvival on earth.
Source: Free Articles from wikipedia and https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu
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