Research Information System
in: Microbial Production of Food Ingredients and Additives, Alina Maria Holban,Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu, Editor, Academic Press , Massachusetts, pp.33-55, 2017
Phytate, the major phosphorus source in plants, is reported to be a strong chelating agent, which can bind various nutrients in the body and cause malnutrition in animals and humans. In addition, phytate cannot be effectively utilized by monogastritic animals, which results in high amounts of phosphorus excretion in manure and adverse effects on the environment. Phytase can break down phytate and is secreted by various microorganism genera, such as Lactobacillus, Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Mucor, Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Rhizopus spp. The addition of phytase to food and feed is important to prevent the negative effects of phytate. This chapter provides an extensive review about microbial phytase production, phytase characterization, various systems of phytase fermentation, and its application in the food and feed industries.