NUTRITION IN AMOEBA

 

      

Process Of Nutrition In Amoeba

The different processes involved in holozoic nutrition in amoeba are:

Ingestion

Ingestion is the process of taking in the food into the body either by swallowing or absorbing it. Amoeba pushes out the pseudopodia to encircle the food and engulfs it forming a food vacuole. This process is known as phagocytosis.

Digestion

Digestion is the process of breaking the insoluble and large food molecules into soluble and minute molecules. In amoeba, the food vacuoles are transported deeper into the cell and with the help of the digestive enzymes, the large insoluble particles are broken down to the simplest molecules.

Absorption

In this process of absorption, the nutrients from the digested food material are absorbed into the cell’s cytoplasm by leaving behind the undigested particles. This process is called diffusion. The excess food is stored in the form of glycogen and lipids.

Assimilation

Assimilation is the process of obtaining energy from the absorbed food molecules. In amoeba, absorbed food molecules are utilized for producing the energy required to carry out different life processes within the cell.

Egestion

Egestion is the process of excretion of undigested food material. In amoeba, this process is carried out by rupturing the cell membrane to remove the undigested food material from its body.