Exogenous phytases have been used commercially since the early 1990s as a successful tool for reducing the environmental impact of industrial livestock production and improving poultry and swine profitability. These cost-saving and sustainability benefits derive from the ability of phytase to liberate phosphorus from phytate. The breakdown of this poorly digestible compound improves animals’ phytate-phosphorus retention and reduces the need to use inorganic phosphorus sources in the diet.

The hydrolysis of phytate also delivers several additional physiological benefits that extend beyond phosphorus alone. These include the retention of amino acids, trace minerals, calcium and energy, which has led to feed phytase ‘super-dosing’. The resulting performance improvements reported, particularly with dsm-firmenich’s RONOZYME® HiPhos, are over and above what would be expected based on additional phosphorus release and the reduction of anti-nutritive effects. However, the exact cause of these enhanced benefits was not until recently fully understood.

New research conducted by dsm-firmenich has revealed important new insights into the ‘extra-phosphoric’ (EPE) effects of phytase, particularly on the role of myo-inositol.