Question

Define holozoic and saprozoic nutrition.

Answer 1

In holozoic nutrition, organisms feed exclusively on solid organic food materials, i.e., whole plants, whole animals or their parts (ingestion). During digestion, they partly hydrolyse large organic molecules into simple molecules with the help of enzymes and the digested material subsequently absorbed into cells (absorption) and the undigested food is expelled out (egestion).

In saprozoic nutrition, organisms thrive on decaying organic materials of plant or animal origin. They secrete enzymes to hydrolyse such materials into simple and soluble products and absorb them through the body surface