Download Cell Respiration Basics

• After glycolysis, if there is not enough
oxygen present, an anaerobic pathway is
used to breakdown pyruvic acid called
fermentation.
alcoholic fermentation
• Yeasts, some bacteria, and even some
plants can use this process. Bread rises
due to the CO2 produced during yeast
fermentation.
• The alcohol in beer & wine is a result of
yeast fermentation, as discovered by
Louis Pasteur.
Bees have been found drunk
from fermented nectar.
• Cells that engage in alcoholic fermentation
convert pyruvic acid to ethyl alcohol. NADH
is oxidized to NADH+.
• This is the importance of fermentation. It
recycles NADH+ back to glycolysis in order
to produce ATP. This way glycolysis can keep
producing ATPs, even though the mitochondrion will not
be involved.
Lactic Acid Fermentation
Pyruvic acid can build up in muscles
tissue after strenuous exercise, because
there is not enough oxygen to meet the
demands of the cells.
Here again, NADH is oxidized to NADH+
to keep glycolysis going and make ATPs.