1. Plants play a very important role in nutrition of animals. Actually plants are the producers whereas animals are dependent on plants for their nutrition.
2. Many plants or plants parts are eaten as food. There are around 2000 plant species which are cultivated for food. Nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals are available from these plants.
3. Seeds of plants are good sources of food for animals including humans because they contain many healthful fats.
4. Infact majority of the food consumed by human beings are seed based food. Edible seeds include cereals like wheat, rice, maize etc. and legumes like pea, groundnut and nuts.
5. Oil seeds are often pressed to produce rich oils like sunflower, groundnut, sesame etc.
6. Seeds are typically high in unsaturated fats and considered as a health food.
7. Fruits are the ripened ovaries of plants including the seeds within. Many plants and animals have coevolved such that the fruits of the former are an attractive food source to the later.
8. Vegetables are a second type of plant matter that is commonly eaten as food.
9. Hence all the nutrients required by animals are available to the animals from plants. Hence plants are playing an important role in nutrition of animals including human beings.
