food vacuole

{{about|the Plasmodium intracellular organelle|other organelles known as "food vacuole"|Vacuole}}

The food vacuole, or digestive vacuole, is an organelle found in simple eukaryotes such as protists. This organelle is essentially a lysosome. During the stage of the symbiont parasites' lifecycle where it resides within a human (or other mammalian) red blood cell, it is the site of haemoglobin digestion and the formation of the large haemozoin crystals that can be seen under a light microscope.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Banerjee | first1 = R.

| last2 = Liu | first2 = J.

| last3 = Beatty | first3 = W.

| last4 = Pelosof | first4 = L.

| last5 = Klemba | first5 = M.

| last6 = Goldberg | first6 = D. E.

| title = Four plasmepsins are active in the Plasmodium falciparum food vacuole, including a protease with an active-site histidine

| doi = 10.1073/pnas.022630099

| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

| volume = 99

| issue = 2

| pages = 990–995

| year = 2002

| pmid = 11782538

| pmc =117418

| bibcode = 2002PNAS...99..990B

| doi-access = free

}}