In glycolysis, also referred to as the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway, each glucose molecule is split and converted to two three-carbon units (pyruvate). During this process several carbon atoms are oxidized. The small amount of energy captured during glycolytic reactions (about 5% of the total available) is stored temporarily in two molecules each of ATP and NADH (the reduced form of the coenzyme NAD+). The subsequent metabolic fate of pyruvate depends on the organism being considered and its metabolic circumstances. In anaerobic organisms