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Would a heterotrophic adult plant have all the same micro-nutrients that a photoautotrophic adult plant has? I can imagine while one might grow lots of cellulos

by goda90 2y ago

Would a heterotrophic adult plant have all the same micro-nutrients that a photoautotrophic adult plant has? I can imagine while one might grow lots of cellulose, maybe there are chemicals that just end up never being made by the plant cells or taken up via the roots in those conditions. I'm reminded of suggestions to point a fan at hydroponic herbs in order to enhance flavor. Just water, air, light, and dissolved nutrients isn't enough for them to be delicious. The plant needs some degree of stress or variation while growing.

roughly 2y ago
This is known among wine growers as well - you need to stress the plant to get interesting grapes, otherwise you just get sugar water.
adrian_b 2y ago
Most likely not, but it is wrong to expect to get all the nutrients from a single food source. Some nutrients are required in much greater quantities than the others, so after obtaining them it becomes much easier to obtain the rest of the nutrients. Food should be cooked by mixing many ingredients, with each providing only some of what is needed. For example you can satisfy your energy needs with some starchy seeds, e.g. maize or rice and with some fat source, for instance olive oil. This would represent the bulk of the dry mass of food needed daily. Such food ingredients do not have to provide anything else but energy (i.e. mostly glucose and oleic acid). If they also provide other nutrients, that is just a bonus. The daily needs of protein could be satisfied e.g. with up to 100 grams of high-quality protein (like whey protein or egg-white protein) produced by a culture of a genetically-modified fungus (such genetically-modified strains of the Trichoderma fungus already exist). That fungus culture does not need to produce anything else but protein. With the previous food ingredients providing the nutrients required in large quantities, the rest of the food ingredients used for cooking (e.g. various vegetables or various animal products, if one prefers those) could be chosen only for improving the taste and for providing the small amounts of essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals that are needed.

by goda90 2y ago

roughly 2y ago

This is known among wine growers as well - you need to stress the plant to get interesting grapes, otherwise you just get sugar water.

adrian_b 2y ago

Most likely not, but it is wrong to expect to get all the nutrients from a single food source. Some nutrients are required in much greater quantities than the others, so after obtaining them it becomes much easier to obtain the rest of the nutrients. Food should be cooked by mixing many ingredients, with each providing only some of what is needed. For example you can satisfy your energy needs with some starchy seeds, e.g. maize or rice and with some fat source, for instance olive oil. This would represent the bulk of the dry mass of food needed daily. Such food ingredients do not have to provide anything else but energy (i.e. mostly glucose and oleic acid). If they also provide other nutrients, that is just a bonus. The daily needs of protein could be satisfied e.g. with up to 100 grams of high-quality protein (like whey protein or egg-white protein) produced by a culture of a genetically-modified fungus (such genetically-modified strains of the Trichoderma fungus already exist). That fungus culture does not need to produce anything else but protein. With the previous food ingredients providing the nutrients required in large quantities, the rest of the food ingredients used for cooking (e.g. various vegetables or various animal products, if one prefers those) could be chosen only for improving the taste and for providing the small amounts of essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals that are needed.