A team of scientists in Spain and the UK have identified the final piece in the jigsaw of how phytate is produced in plants.

Published today by PNAS, the breakthrough discovery by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) in Madrid and the University of East Anglia (UEA) has implications for agribusiness, the environment and human health.

Phytate is a naturally-occurring phosphate deposit which accumulates in the seeds, beans and tubers of many crops. The researchers have identified for the first time how the enzyme that produces phytate works, by solving the molecular structure of the protein IP5 2-kinase.

Because many animals are unable to digest the phytate present in their feed, the phytate phosphorus is transferred to the soil as manure, leading to the harmful pollution of waterways.

As a result, the animal feedstuffs industry currently adds a special enzyme called phytase to the feedstuff which allows animals to absorb the phosphorus complexed within phytate. This is a costly process, and so the industry needs to identify low-phytate varieties of crops such as maize, rice, wheat, barley and soya bean. This new discovery completes our understanding of how phytate is made by plants.

Not only does phytate contribute to pollution, the phytate in crops is also an ‘anti-nutrient’ that can have a detrimental effect on human health.