“Metabolites are intermediate products of cellular metabolism catalyzed by various enzymes that naturally

occur within the cells.”

Table of Contents

 Metabolites
 Plant Metabolites

1. Primary Metabolites
2. Secondary Metabolites

 Differences
 Human Metabolites
 Microbial Metabolites
 Key Points

What are Metabolites?

Metabolites are the intermediate products produced during metabolism, catalyzed by various enzymes that
occur naturally within cells. Eg., antibiotics, and pigments. The term metabolites are usually used for small
molecules. The various functions of metabolites include; fuel, structure, signalling, catalytic activity, defence
and interactions with other organisms.

The metabolites are produced by plants, humans and microbes.

Also Read: Metabolites and Biomacromolecules

Plant Metabolites
Plant metabolites are of two types:

 Primary Metabolites
 Secondary Metabolites

Primary Metabolites

These are the chemical compounds produced during the growth and development, processes. They are also
involved in the primary metabolic processes of respiration and photosynthesis. The primary metabolites are
formed in the growth phase. They maintain the physiological functions of the body and are known as central
metabolites. They are the intermediate products of anabolic metabolism, which are used by the cells for the
formation of essential macromolecules.

Amino acids, vitamins, organic acids, are some of the primary metabolites produced industrially. Alcohol is
the major primary metabolite produced on a large scale, industrially.

Also Refer: Amino Acids

Secondary Metabolites

These compounds are produced by the organisms that are not required for primary metabolic processes.
However, they can be important ecologically or otherwise. Secondary metabolites are considered to be the end
products of primary metabolites because they are derived by the pathways in which the primary metabolites
involve.

For eg., antibiotics, toxins, pheromones, enzyme inhibitors, etc. Streptomycetes and related actinomycetes are
the sources of novel secondary metabolites.

Differences between Primary and Secondary metabolites

Secondary
Primary Metabolites
Metabolites

Required for growth and

Involved in ecological
maintenance of cellular
functions.
function.

Occurs at the growth Occurs at the

phase. stationary phase.

Produced in large Produced in small

amounts and easy to amounts and difficult
extract. to extract.
 Different in every
Same in every species.
species.

Perform physiological Derivatives of

functions in the body. primary metabolites.

Eg., carbohydrates, Eg., Phenolics,

vitamins, ethanol, lactic steroids, antibiotics,
acid. pigments.

Human Metabolites
Humans have 2500 metabolites. Prostaglandin produces a metabolite Arachidonic acid. Both the molecules
have the same physical properties, functional groups and are linked by a series of enzyme-catalyzed reactions.

Cholesterol produces steroid hormones, catecholamines arise from the amino acid tyrosine.

All the information about the metabolites produced in the human body is freely accessible by an electronic
database the Human Metabolome Database (HMDB).

Microbial Metabolites
Different microbes use different strategies to produce metabolites. These are useful in differentiating between
different species of microorganisms.

Alcohol is one of the most common primary metabolites used for the fermentation- anaerobic
respiration process for the production of wine and beer. Aspergillus niger produces citric acid widely used in
food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries.

Key Points Of Metabolites

 Metabolites are intermediate end products of metabolism.
 Primary metabolites are essential for the proper growth of microorganisms.
 Secondary metabolites are formed near the stationary phase of growth and are not involved in growth,
reproduction and development.
 The metabolites can be used in industries to develop vaccines, antibiotics, isolate chemicals for organic
synthesis and to obtain amino acids.