Question: Do different trees make different sugars when they photosynthesise?

Anna Gardner answered on 12 Jun 2019: last edited 12 Jun 2019 1:45 pm

Hi there!
All tree make the same sugar when they photosynthesize. All trees make the sugar GLUCOSE.
Glucose can then be made into other types of sugar depending on what the plant needs or wants to do with all its energy. Any word with an ‘ose’ on the end is a sugar. Plants can make glucose into a sugar called CELLULOSE. Cellulose is a sugar used for building things (for structure). For example, Cellulose can help make the roots longer and make the tree trunk bigger. Plants can also make glucose into a sugar called STARCH. Starch is a sugar used for storing up energy (like when we store chocolate for rainy days!). For example, when plants need to store sugar in their seeds or for growing on cloudy days (when the sun is hiding). Both of these sugars are needed to help the plant grow, especially when the weather changes like it does in the UK. Both the structure of the plant and the plants energy stores are important for the trees survival. Thank you for your question!