What Is The Importance Of Anaerobic Respiration?

Question

What Is The Importance Of Anaerobic Respiration?

2 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

There are two types of respiration. Aerobic respiration and Anaerobic respiration. In aerobic respiration oxygen is necessary for respiration but it Anaerobic respiration, oxygen is not necessary for respiration. Aerobic respiration produces 15 times more energy than the anaerobic respiration. The advantage of aerobic respiration over anaerobic respiration is, therefore, quiet evident. That is why you see that large organisms have aerobic respiration. But anaerobic respiration is also important in its place because of the following reasons:
(1) The planet of earth in its early time had an environment which was totally devoid of oxygen. The aerobic organisms can not exist in anaerobic environment.
(2) Some existing organisms, like bacteria and parasites which live in oxygen environment, have anaerobic respiration and many useful bacteria and yeast are anaerobic.
(3) Even in the aerobic respiration, the first phase is anaerobic. The glycolysis which is the first phase of carbohydrate metabolism involves reaction which do not require the expedition of molecular oxygen. This may in a way support the notion that aerobic organisms have evolved from the anaerobic organisms.
(4) In some active tissues like skeletal muscles, although aerobic metabolism takes place but in sustained activity when the oxygen supply can not keep pace with the energy demand, anaerobic respiration supplies the energy continuesly by the breakdown of glucose to lactic acid.

Answer 2

Anaerobic respiration is a complex biochemical reaction importantly involving some steps and is carried out by anaerobic microorganisms that require little or no oxygen to live on pollutant waste materials. During the process, gas methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide is produced. There are 4 steps involving anaerobic respiration; 1: Hydrolysis: reactant complex organic matter is decomposed into simple soluble organic molecules with help of water. 2: Fermentation or acidogenesis: chemical decomposition of carbohydrates present in decomposed material after hydrolysis. Different enzymes, bacteria, yeasts, or molds involve and work without oxygen. 3: Acetogenesis: the fermentation products convert into acetate, hydrogen and carbon dioxide with help of acetogenic bacteria. 4: Methanogenesis: methane (CH4) is formed from acetate, carbon dioxide and H2 by methanogenic bacteria.

Methane is not a soluble end product; it leaves the system as biogas. This biogas is the fraction of the total biomass used as a reactant. Many advantages are linked with this, first anaerobic treatment produces between 5 to 10 times less biosolids or sludge than aerobic processes. Second in addition, anaerobic biosolids are easily to manage after the reaction having the advantage of being much more compact than aerobic biosolids. Next, anaerobic biosolids are less soluble for the surrounding having better de-watering characteristics compared to aerobic biosolids. Another advantage is that anaerobic digestion does not require aeration equipment. And the most important one advantage is the production of biogas as a source of energy conservation.