Industrial applications of phytases

Abstract

Phytases have a profound role in animal feed and various food industries due to the non-availability of phosphorus to the animals present in the feed, along with improving the digestion and absorption of the phosphorus and certain other poorly available nutrients. Especially, phytate-degrading enzymes from microorganisms offer technical and economical feasibility for their production and application. Phytates have been considered as a threat in human diet due to its antinutrient behaviour which is known as strong chelator of divalent minerals such as Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+ and Fe2+. Biotechnologically produced phytases may be possible for use tomorrow in food processing as well as plant raw material and starter cultures with inserted phytase genes. Potential uses of phytases in various industries mainly food industry has been emphasized in this paper.