The key difference between oxidative and nonoxidative pentose phosphate pathway is that oxidative pentose phosphate pathway generates nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). Meanwhile, nonoxidative pentose phosphate pathway generates pentose sugars.
The pentose phosphate pathway is a metabolic pathway that takes place parallel to glycolysis. It consists of two distinct pathways as oxidative pentose phosphate pathway and nonoxidative pentose phosphate pathway. NADPH is generated in the oxidative phase, while pentose sugars are generated through the non-oxidative phase. In addition to pentose sugars and NADPH, this pathway generates ribose 5-phosphate, which is a precursor for nucleotide synthesis.
