Every living organism needs to feed itself in order to have the energy necessary to carry out all vital functions.

Plants are defined as autotrophs, as they are capable of producing their own fuel independently, using simple sunlight.

This is what happens with photosynthesis, an extremely ancient process, already present billions of years ago inside tiny bacteria that probably contributed to forming the oxygen present in today's atmosphere.

Indeed, oxygen is nothing other than the waste product of photosynthesis. The procedure is apparently simple: carbon dioxide and water, in the presence of sunlight, combine to form glucose (the fuel of cells) and
oxygen. Photosynthesis takes place according to the following chemical reaction:

6CO2 + 6H2O –> 6C6H12O6 + 6O2

In reality, the process is divided into two phases (the light phase and the dark phase), far more complex, within which numerous transformations take place.

In the light phase, solar energy is converted into chemical energy, which will then be used during the dark phase to fix carbon (transforming it into a complex organic compound, glucose).

Photosynthesis takes place inside chloroplasts, small bodies found in the green parts of plants. Within them there is a green pigment, chlorophyll, which has the role of capturing photons (very small charged particles that make up light) and setting the entire process in motion.