Question

A potted destarched plant was taken in order to prove that light is necessary for photosynthesis.
(i) What is meant by 'destarched plant'? How can it be destarched?
(ii) Using the destarched plant describe step by step how you would proceed to prove that in the absence of light the leaf cannot manufacture starch.

Answer 1

(i) Destarched plant is the plant which lacks starch. Destarching is done by keeping the plant in dark for 2-3 days or covering a part of a leaf with a black paper by clip.
(ii) (a) The leaf is plucked and is boiled in water and decolourized with alcohol.
(b) The portion of leaf which received light turns blue with iodine because photosynthesis took place in that part of leaf.
(c) The part of leaf which was covered with black paper remains colourless because photosynthesis could not take place in the absence of sunlight.

This shows that starch is not manufactured in the absence of light.