NutrientA nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excreted by cells to create non-cellular structures such as hair, scales, feathers, or exoskeletons.
Protein (nutrient)Proteins are essential nutrients for the human body. They are one of the constituents of body tissue and also serve as a fuel source. As fuel, proteins have the same energy density as carbohydrates: 17 kJ (4 kcal) per gram. From a nutritional perspective, the defining characteristic of protein is its amino acid composition. Protein content in foods is commonly measured based on nitrogen content, as nitrogen is a fundamental component of amino acids.
MetabolismSet of chemical reactions in organismsSimplified view of cellular metabolismMetabolism (, from Greek μεταβολή (metabolē) 'change') refers to the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions that occur within living organisms.
Mineral (nutrient)In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element. Some "minerals" are essential for life, but most are not. Minerals are one of the four groups of essential nutrients; the others are vitamins, essential fatty acids, and essential amino acids. The five major minerals in the human body are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and magnesium. The remaining minerals are called "trace elements".
FungusOrganism belonging to kingdom FungiA fungus (pl.: fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes yeasts, molds, and mushrooms. These organisms are classified in the biological kingdomFungi. A characteristic that places fungus in a different kingdom from plants, bacteria, and some protists is having chitin in their cell walls.IngestionIngestion is the consumption of a substance by an organism. In animals, it normally is accomplished by taking in a substance through the mouth into the gastrointestinal tract, such as through eating or drinking. In single-celled organisms, ingestion takes place by absorbing a substance through the cell membrane.
Cell (biology)Basic unit of life formsThe cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life or organisms. The term comes from the Latin word cellula meaning 'small room'. A biological cell basically consists of a semipermeablecell membrane enclosing cytoplasm that contains genetic material. Most cells are only visible under a microscope.
CarbohydrateLactose is a disaccharide found in animal milk. It consists of a molecule of D-galactose and a molecule of D-glucose bonded by beta-1-4 glycosidic linkage.Sugars (e.g. glucose) and their polymers (such as starch, cellulose).A carbohydrate () is a sugar (saccharide) or a sugar derivative.
VitaminVitamins are organic molecules (or a set of closely related molecules called vitamers) that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolic function. These essential nutrients cannot be synthesized in the organism in sufficient quantities for survival, and therefore must be obtained through consumption. For example, vitamin C can be synthesized by some species but not by others; it is not considered a vitamin in the first instance but is in the second.
FatIn nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple esters of glycerol), that are the main components of vegetable oils and of fatty tissue in animals; or, even more narrowly, to triglycerides that are solid or semisolid at room temperature, thus excluding oils.
OrganismAn organism is any living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Several criteria, few of which are widely accepted, have been proposed to define what constitutes an organism. Among the most common is that an organism has autonomous reproduction, growth, and metabolism. This would exclude viruses, even though they evolve like organisms.List of feeding behavioursFeeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin vorare, meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγεῖν (phagein), meaning "to eat". Evolutionary historyThe evolution of feeding is varied with some feeding strategies evolving several times in independent lineages.
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