Vacuole is an organelle used mainly for storage within a living cell . An organelle is a small organlike structure with a specialized function. A vacuole may store food particles or other materials that the cell needs for energy or to carry out its work. It may also be used to store waste products. Vacuoles are found in many plant and animal cells. Some single-celled organisms, such as protozoans , take in food by engulfing it. The material they bring inside can be stored in a vacuole for later use.
A large vacuole may be pinched off in sections to form smaller vacuoles as separate storage compartments. When the contents of a vacuole are needed, the vacuole may join together with another organelle. A food vacuole, for example, may join with a lysosome. Lysosomes contain specialized chemicals called enzymes that can break down large food particles or other materials.
Some plant cells contain a particularly large vacuole known as the central vacuole. The central vacuole may contain mostly water, rather than food or other materials. When water flows into the central vacuole, it may swell to take up almost all the space inside the cell. This swelling works with the cell’s rigid covering, called the cell wall, to enable the cell to support tremendous weight. This process helps plant stems to grow tall without collapsing under their own weight. In addition, pigments stored in central vacuoles give many flowers their colors.
