eZine · Nigerian exams
Nutrition
JAMB Biology topic guide with 2 practice questions.
What to revise
- modes of nutrition: autotrophic, heterotrophic
- types of nutrition: holozoic, parasitic, saprophytic, carnivorous plants
- plant nutrition: photosynthesis, chemosynthesis, mineral requirements (macro- and micro-nutrients)
- animal nutrition: classes of food substances (carbohydrates, proteins, fats and oils, vitamins, mineral salts, water)
- food tests (e.g. starch, reducing sugar, protein, oil, fat)
- the mammalian tooth (structures, types and functions)
- mammalian alimentary canal
- nutrition process: ingestion, digestion, absorption and assimilation
You should be able to
- compare autotrophic and heterotrophic modes of nutrition, with examples from flowering and non-flowering plants
- compare photosynthetic and chemosynthetic modes of nutrition
- differentiate holozoic (sheep, man), parasitic (roundworm, tapeworm, Loranthus), saprophytic (Rhizopus, mushroom) and carnivorous-plant (sundew, bladderwort) feeding
- differentiate the light and dark reactions of photosynthesis
- determine the necessity of light, carbon (IV) oxide and chlorophyll in photosynthesis
- detect the presence of starch in a leaf as evidence of photosynthesis
- identify macro- and micro-elements required by plants
- recognise the deficiency symptoms of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium
- indicate the sources of the various classes of food and determine their nutritional value
- relate the importance and deficiency (e.g. scurvy, rickets, kwashiorkor) of each class of food
- determine the importance of a balanced diet
- detect the presence of a food type from the result of a given experiment
- describe the structure of a typical mammalian tooth
- differentiate the types of mammalian teeth and relate their structures to their functions
- compare the dental formulae of man, sheep and dog
- relate the structure of the alimentary canal and its accessory organs (liver, pancreas, gall bladder) to their functions
- identify the general characteristics of digestive enzymes
- associate enzymes with digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats
- determine the end products of these classes of food
From JAMB's Biology syllabus official. Full syllabus →
eZine's published bank has 23 questions on this topic (counted 29 October 2026).
Practice questions
Question 1 · Nutrition
Rhizopus on a rotting tomato digests the tomato by
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. secreting enzymes onto it and absorbing the products
Saprophytes carry out extracellular digestion and absorb soluble products. Food vacuoles are used by holozoic protists such as Amoeba; Rhizopus has no chlorophyll; parasitism involves a living host, whereas the rotting tomato is dead.
eZine practice question (original, teacher-reviewed)
Question 2 · Nutrition
Loranthus growing on a kola tree in Ogbomoso sends special roots into the host's xylem and phloem. These structures are
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. haustoria
Haustoria penetrate host tissue to absorb water and food in parasitic plants such as Loranthus. Rhizoids are simple anchoring hairs of mosses and fungi, nodules house nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and pneumatophores are breathing roots of mangroves.
eZine practice question (original, teacher-reviewed)
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