Can Some Plants Produce Oxygen At Night Analysis

Plants Which Produce Oxygen at Night, Debunked.

Can some plants produce oxygen at night? I hear you ask, after all the internet is filled with articles stating that plants suck as snake plant, and some types of daisies and others produce oxygen at night.

But remember your primary school science classes, when you learnt that plants practice a ‘magical’ process called photosynthesis?

A plant needs light and water, to turn carbon dioxide into carbohydrates, and oxygen is the waste product of this process. However, that is simple science meant to raise the curiosity of a child.

The reality is, there are three types of photosynthesis, and the third type you will read about here, will help you understand why there is a wide misconception
Some like to eat as soon as they grab their food, whilst some like prepare a table and arrange everything, to make sure time and food are not wasted. Then there are plants, like humans, who know gathering food does not come easy, and so collect and store what they can, before consuming what they need, only when they need it. So here is a summary of the three types of photosynthesis.

The three types of photosynthesis:-

C3

• What you studied in primary school.
• The majority of plants in moderate climates use this method.
• Carbon dioxide attaches to a three carbon molecule.
• The plants uses the enzyme RuBisCo to catch Co2 from the air and turn it into carbohydrates.
• The process takes place in the same cell that grabbed the Co2 and at the same second.
• This is an energy efficient method, but the plant loses a considerable amount of water using this process.

C4 aka The Hatch-slack Pathway

• Used by plants in warmer climates.
• Carbon dioxide attaches to a four carbon molecule.
• The process of absorbing CO2 from the air and converting it into carbohydrates takes place in two different cells. PEP-ase is the enzyme the CO2 attaches to and afterwards, the CO2 transfers to the next cell where the Rubisco is
• Plants in tropical and warmer climates save energy and water using this process.

CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism)

• Desert plants, which only open their stomata (pores on leaves and stems)at night, utilise this method to absorb carbon dioxide at night.
• This reduces the amount of evaporation and plant transpiration (Evapotranspiration) and saves on the plant’s water storage.
• A vacuole stores the collected CO2 as malic acid, and does not process the Co2 all night long.
• When the daytime comes the stomata closes and the CO2 extracts from the Malic acid, is given to the Rubisco and the photosynthesis process of turning carbon dioxide into carbohydrates is complete.
• Succulents , Cacti and Pineapples are the plants best known to use this process.
• This is the most water efficient way for a plant to metabolise food. (This method saves 83% more of the plant’s water reservoir, than the C3 process does.)
• This is an energy inefficient method.

Where The Confusion Arises

As you may have figured out from the description of the CAM process, this is where the confusion as to whether some plants are capable of producing oxygen at night, or not, comes