Oxidative phosphorylation requires a proton gradient.
Cells use enzymes to oxidize foods in the metabolic pathway known as oxidative phosphorylation, electron transport-linked phosphorylation, or terminal oxidation, which releases chemical energy to create adenosine triphosphate.
This happens inside mitochondria in eukaryotes. The majority of the energy required for biosynthesis, maintaining a healthy ion balance, and mechanical effort is provided by oxidative phosphorylation, which is the principal source of ATP in higher animals.
A succession of proteins and electron carriers in the mitochondrial membrane, as well as the electron transport chain, are all involved in the process of oxidative phosphorylation.
