Plants recognize the different chemicals they consume such as manganese, potassium or nitrogen. This capacity is not centralized in a mouth but exists in each cell, at the level of the roots. On the other hand, the plant produces its own food, and taste and nutrition are much more closely associated than for humans. They adjust the consumption of substances, depending on the stresses encountered.
Some experiments:
The plans of Arabisopsis absorb more manganese when the soil becomes acidic. The roots regulate the consumption of minerals by the plant, as needed. The root first tastes the substance before allowing it to pass through the dam of the endoderm and reach the sap.
Tel Aviv University’s Fromm experiments on the
recognition of water sources by plants.
• Roots in dry soil bend to find water. But the
mechanism is not discovered.
• The roots inform the whole plant of the drop in
water level, which leads to the reduction of surface roots and faster growth of
deep roots.
• The roots use substances (still unknown) to
prevent not from more water the more distant roots of the same plant but also
the roots of other plants.
Current experiments aim to measure very precisely the needs and consumption of each plant in minerals in order to reduce the overproduction of synthetic fertilizers. The objective is to select those that produce the most while consuming the least.