AbstractAn overview is presented of the different approximative enzyme kinetic formats that have been proposed for use in metabolic modeling studies. It is considered that the following four general properties are relevant for approximative kinetics: the rate must be proportional to enzyme level; at high metabolite concentrations, there is downward concave behavior of rate versus concentration; the number of kinetic parameters should be as small as possible; analytical solutions of steady‐state network balances are desirable. Six different approximative kinetic formats are evaluated (linear, logarithmic‐linear, power law GMA, power law S‐systems, thermokinetic, linear‐logarithmic) and it is concluded that only the recently proposed linear‐logarithmic approach combines all desired properties and therefore seems a most appropriate approximate kinetic format. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.