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Food materials and sources

• We eat different food items every day. Each of these food items requires ingredients to make them.

• The food that we consume is obtained from mainly two sources: plants and animals. So there are plant products and animal products

• Food obtained from plants: Rice Fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses, cereals.

• Food obtained from animals: Egg, meat, milk, beef, fish, chicken, pork, prawns.

• Items like salt and water make a third category.

As we said, food comes in a variety of forms, each come from different sources.

Some we eat directly like fruits, whereas some we cook and eat like curry, rice, kheer, etc.

Whether it is cooked or uncooked, the main sources of anything we eat are plants and animals.

Fruits, vegetables, pulses, grains, etc. come from plants. Milk, eggs, meat and other dairy products come from animals. [/responsivevoice]

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Plant parts as food :

Most of the parts of plants such as leaves, flowers, roots, stems, are edible.

• Carrots, beetroot, radish are some root vegetables.
• Spinach, cabbage are leafy vegetables.
• Tomato, brinjal, lady’s finger are few fruit vegetables.

But, every part of every plant is not consumable; sometimes they can be toxic and allergens.

• We eat many leafy vegetables. We eat fruits, stem, roots, and flowers of some plants. E.g., ginger is the root of a plant that we use in cooking.
• Some plants have two or more edible (eatable) parts. For example: seeds of mustard plants give us oil and the leaves are used as a vegetable.

Not all the plants are edible, some may be poisonous too. For example: Oleander, Castor bean,Datura Stramonium, Dieffenbachia.

• Sprouts of moong dal and chana is eaten as a healthy snacks.

Note: Sprouts is the white root like structure coming out of seeds when soaked in water overnight.

• Carrot, Ginger, Radish, Onion, Beet root etc. are the example of edible root of plants.
• Cinnamon is an example in which bark of tree is used as a spice. [/responsivevoice]

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Animal product as food :

They give us milk, eggs, meat and many other products like cheese, ghee, honey, etc. Animals depend on plants for their food. Hence, we can assert that “directly or indirectly plants are the primary producers and primary source of food”.

• Honey is an edible viscous liquid formed by bees in bee hive.
• Bees collect nectar, which is sweet juice from flowers and convert it into honey and store in their hive.

What do animals eat?

The method of eating or choices of food followed by living organisms is called as food habit.

• Classification of animals based on nutrition: Herbivorous, Carnivorous, and Omnivorous.
• Herbivorous: Animals which eats only plants and products of plants are called Herbivorous. For example: Cow, Buffalo, Goat, Sheep, Donkey, Elephant, Giraffe, Deer, Camel etc.

• Carnivorous: Animals which eats other animals as food are called Carnivorous. For example: Lion, Tiger, Fox, Wolf, Shark etc.

• Omnivorous: Animal which eats both plants and animals as food. For example: Dog, rat, Crow, Pigs, Hens etc.

• Human beings can be herbivorous or omnivorous. [/responsivevoice]

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Important Definitions

Nectar: The juicy sweet liquid secreted by within flowers which is sucked by bees and is made into honey by them

Sprouting: The process by which seeds shoot out small white structures as way of growth is called Sprouting.

Cellulose: It is a substance that is found in the cell walls of a number of plants. It is an indigestible fibre and is found in grass.

Enzymes: It is defined as a chemical substance that helps in bringing about changes to certain other substances without undergoing any changes in themselves.

Food: The substances which we eat every day, containing various edible components that provide us energy and materials that help our body to grow and remain healthy are called food.

Ingredients: The materials that are needed to prepare a particular type of dish are called its ingredients.

Edible: The substances which one can eat are called edible.

Sprouted Seeds: The germinating seeds at the initial stage when a white structure has grown out of the seed (radicle) are called sprouted seeds.

Honey: Honey bees collect nectar (sweet juices) from flowers and convert it into honey. Bees store it in beehive for future use.

Herbivores: Animals which eat only plants, plant parts or plant products are called herbivores such as cow and deer.

Carnivores: Animals which eat other animals are called carnivores such as tiger and lion.

Omnivores: The animals which eat both the plants and animals are called omnivores such as human beings.

Sources of Food: There are two main sources of food: (l) Plants and (il) Animals. [/responsivevoice]