Elementary mode analysis of metabolic pathways has proven to be a valuable tool for assessing the properties and functions of biochemical systems. However, little comprehension of how individual elementary modes are used in real cellular states has been achieved so far. A quantitative measure of fluxes carried by individual elementary modes is of great help to identify dominant metabolic processes, and to understand how these processes are redistributed in biological cells in response to changes in environmental conditions, enzyme kinetics, or chemical concentrations.