If a plant is kept in the dark for 72 hours, it will become destarched — meaning it will use up the stored starch and not produce any new starch.
- Photosynthesis requires sunlight to produce glucose, which is stored as starch.
- In the absence of light, photosynthesis stops, so the plant cannot make food.
- However, the plant continues to respire, using up the stored starch for energy.
- As a result, after 72 hours in the dark, no starch will be present in the leaves.
- This is why destarching is done before photosynthesis experiments to ensure that any starch found afterward is due to new photosynthesis.
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