Greater production demands for ruminants require increased dietary inclusion of high-energy feeds. Grains and oil seeds are most commonly used to enhance diet energy density. However, use of such feeds proportionally increases the amount of dietary phytate phosphorus (P), which the ruminant may not be able to fully utilise. Our objectives for this study were to determine the extent of phytate d...

In children the demand for calcium is particularly great and since their diet may contain considerable amounts of phytate, which is known to impair calcium absorption in adults (McCance & Widdowson, 1942) and in infants (Hoff-Jorgensen, Andersen, Begtrup & Nielsen, 1946), we have investigated the effect of a diet rich in phytate on the absorption of calcium and phosphorus in two children aged 1...

Phytic acid is a bioactive compound widely distributed in plant foods. Due to its molecular structure, phytic acid has affinity to polyvalent cations, such as minerals and trace elements, and could in this way interfere with their intestinal absorption in man and animals. Most studies in humans have therefore concentrated on the effect of phytate on mineral absorption and deficiencies. Currentl...

Plant materials naturally contain minerals of iron, zinc and calcium [1]. However, plants also contain a compound called phytic acid, which can chelate the minerals and form insoluble complexes. Minerals from plant foods are unavailable for intestinal uptake when they are bound in phytate complexes [24]. Cereal-based diets low in meat, can thereby lead to micronutrient deficiencies of e.g. iron...

In this study, iron absorption from a tempe fermented whole-grain barley meal was measured, and results were compared to in vitro estimation of available iron from an equivalent meal. The tempe meal (TM) was prepared from barley fermented with Rhizopus oligosporus to reduce the phytate content <0.5 mol/g. Boiled barley with preserved phytate content was used as reference meal (BBM). Iron was ad...

Concentrations of Cu, Fe, Zn, Ca, and phytate were measured in dry-milled corn bran, wheat brans, and soybean hulls prior to being baked in bread and after passage through the human GI tract. Significant changes in mineral concentrations in the retrieved remnants compared to the starting materials were as follows: Cu, Fe, and Zn increased by factors of from two to four and Ca increased at least...

Germination and/or fermentation processes for Egyptian breeds of mung seeds were carried out with three Lactobacillus strains namely, L. reuteri, L. case, and L. heleviticus. Results revealed increase in protein content, nitrogen solubility and in vitro digestibility for all treated mung meals. Treated mung proteins contained most of the essential amino acids in concentrations comparable to tho...

The effects of whole wheat bran and its components on the absorption of nonheme dietary iron were measured using a double isotope technique in human volunteers. When 12 g bran was added to a light meal, absorption decreased by 51 to 74%; this inhibitory effect of bran was shown for meals of both high and low iron availability. Inhibition was not explained by monoferric phytate, the major form o...

A bacterial isolate derived from soil samples near a cattle farm was found to display extracellular phytase activity. Based on 16S rRNA sequence analysis, the strain was named Bacillus sp. T4. The optimum temperature for the phytase activity toward magnesium phytate (Mg-InsP6) was 40°C without 5 mM Ca(2+) and 50°C with 5 mM Ca(2+). T4 phytase had a characteristic bi-hump two pH optima of 6.0 to...

The objectives of this research were to assess the bioavailability of calcium using equilibrium dialysis after simulated gastric digestion method in 20 commonly consumed green leafy vegetables (GLVs) from the typical Indian diet, provide data on the content of calcium absorption inhibitors, like oxalate, phytate, tannin and dietary fibres, and evaluate the inhibitory effect of these compounds o...