Beta oxidation is the metabolic pathway by which fatty acids are broken down two carbons at a time in the mitochondrial matrix, yielding acetyl-CoA units and reduced electron carriers (FADH2, NADH) that feed into oxidative phosphorylation and the citric acid cycle to generate ATP, producing more energy per carbon than carbohydrate metabolism. The pathway requires activation of the fatty acid to fatty acyl-CoA in the cytoplasm and transport into the mitochondrion via a carnitine shuttle, followed by a repeating four-step enzymatic cycle (oxidation, hydration, oxidation, thiolytic cleavage) that removes one acetyl-CoA per turn. This belongs to lipid metabolism within biochemistry, relating structurally to analogous reactions in the citric acid cycle and functionally to ketone body synthesis via thiolase-catalyzed condensation.
Beta oxidation is the metabolic pathway by which fatty acids are broken down two carbons at a time in the mitochondrial matrix, yielding acetyl-CoA units and reduced electron carriers (FADH2, NADH) t…