What does the central vacuole in a plant cell do?

Answer 1

Vacuoles are large membrane-bound compartments within some eukaryotic cells where they serve a variety of different functions: capturing food materials or unwanted structural debris surrounding the cell, sequestering materials that might be toxic to the cell, maintaining fluid balance (called turgor) within the cell, exporting unwanted substances from the cell, or even determining relative cell size. The cavity that is the vacuole is considered nonprotoplasmic and the contents classified as ergastic according to some authors (Esau, 1965). Vacuoles are especially conspicuous in most plant cells.

Vacuoles are typically filled with a liquid called cell sap, the composition of which can vary (even between vacuoles in the same cell), but is principally water. Water tends to move along concentration gradients into vacuoles. Vacuoles perform different roles in different organisms and these functions include the capture of food, the maintenance of internal hydrostatic pressure (store water), the containment of waste products, the maintenance of an acidic internal pH, the storage of small molecules and finally can enable a cell to elongate rapidly.

Answer 2

The central vacuole in the plant cell stores minerals in the dissolved form and maintains the osmotic potential of cell for osmosis.