Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a specialized photosynthetic process which is characterized by the FOLLOWING criteria as given by Osmond (1978) and Kluge and Ting (1978).

These are:

• CO2 uptake takes PLACE mainly at night,
• Stomata are open at night and are usually closed during the day when CO2 uptake is almost negligible,
• MALATE accumulates at night by carboxylation of PEP by PEPcase,
• Decarboxylation of malate during the day yields CO2 inside the photosynthetic tissue which is fixed normally by RuBPcase in the C3CYCLE, thus permitting CO2 assimilation without CO2 entry directly from air.
• CAM has been named after the family Crassulaceae in which the phenomenon was first observed. This process is also common in other families of higher plants INCLUDING Cactaceae, Euphorbiaceous, Aizoaceae, Liliaceae, Bromeliaceous and Orchidaceae. A few economically important plants, including pineapple are CAM plants.

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a specialized photosynthetic process which is characterized by the following criteria as given by Osmond (1978) and Kluge and Ting (1978).

These are: