Why convert Glucose to Starch?
The products of photosynthesis are assembled in the wheat plant to make glucose. Glucose (C6H12O6) is a monosaccharide or single sugar. The plant uses glucose as short-term energy storage. Like all other organisms, however, the wheat plant must store energy “for a rainy day” (or for a dry day in this case!) Some of its glucose, therefore, is converted into a polysaccharide called starch, allowing the plant to store most of the energy collected in photosynthesis in the chemical bonds between the sugars. When the plant or the animal who ate the plant needs energy, the bonds holding the glucose molecules together are broken, and energy is released. Starch is a better way to store energy than glucose because it has more bonds to hold potential energy and it can be stored in large amounts without disturbing the rest of the plant.
