Glycolysis, which literally means “breakdown of sugar," is a catabolic process in which six-carbon sugars (hexoses) are oxidized and broken down into pyruvate molecules. The corresponding anabolic pat...Glycolysis, which literally means “breakdown of sugar," is a catabolic process in which six-carbon sugars (hexoses) are oxidized and broken down into pyruvate molecules. The corresponding anabolic pathway by which glucose is synthesized is termed gluconeogenesis. Both glycolysis and gluconeogenesis are not major oxidative/reductive processes by themselves, with one step in each one involving loss/gain of electrons, but the product of glycolysis, pyruvate, can be completely oxidized to CO₂.
