Unlock mineral bioavailability: How phytase breaks through absorption barriers

• The phytic acid content of plant-based foods significantly compromises mineral absorption, creating a critical challenge for manufacturers looking to maintain mineral bioavailability in fortified foods.
• Tolerase® P phytase enhances mineral absorption and offers versatile application potential across food fortification, supplements, and micronutrient powders, with proven stability and efficacy.¹
• Discover how leading manufacturers are implementing this breakthrough technology to transform their fortification strategies and deliver enhanced mineral bioavailability in plant-based foods.

In a world where more than a third of the world's population lives predominantly on plant-based diets,² manufacturers face a critical challenge: ensuring optimal mineral absorption across multiple applications. For those developing fortified cereals, legumes, and other plant-based foods, delivering essential minerals in a bioavailable form has long been a complex technical endeavor. Now, a fresh solution to an old challenge lies in an innovative enzymatic solution that's revolutionizing mineral bioavailability in fortified plant-based foods: phytase.

The mineral absorption problem in plant-based food fortification

Plant-based diets typically include whole grains, pulses, and beans that provide essential minerals but also contain antinutrients like phytic acid. Phytic acid binds minerals such as iron and zinc, significantly hindering their absorption in the human intestine.³ This presents a fundamental nutritional paradox: while these foods are rich in minerals, the high phytic acid content is a major contributor to mineral deficiencies globally, including iron deficiency–which WHO identifies as one of the most common and widespread nutritional disorders in the world.⁴

So how can manufacturers overcome this hurdle to deliver optimal nutrition without compromising on ingredient purity or stability?

Breaking the bioavailability barrier with enzymatic innovation

Recent advances in phytase enzyme technology offer manufacturers a breakthrough solution. Phytase, developed through extensive research and validated in more than 20 clinical studies, effectively cleaves phosphate groups from phytic acid, preventing it from forming complexes with minerals and making them available for uptake by the human body.⁵

The clinical evidence which reveals how phytase improves mineral absorption is compelling:

• Iron absorption improvements of 1.0 to 11.6 times baseline levels
• Zinc absorption enhancements of 1.4 to 2.0 times baseline levels
• Consistent performance across various food matrices.⁶

From science to solution: Implementation strategies for manufacturers

Understanding the science behind phytase is one thing, but how does this translate into real-world manufacturing environments? Now, we’ll break down how to put this innovation to work and achieve enhanced mineral bioavailability across diverse applications.

In flour fortification, cereals and other food types

Tolerase® P, dsm-firmenich's phytase solution, offers benefits in a microgranulated form that ensures excellent flowability and uniform distribution, while maintaining stability throughout processing. With activity across a broad pH range (2.5–5.5), including digestive conditions, Tolerase® P maintains its efficacy in various production conditions. Additionally, Tolerase® P can be used across various applications such as micronutrient powders, spreads, and tabletop condiments, to provide both processing aid and/or food ingredient functionality depending on specific formulation needs.

In supplement development

High solubility and a neutral taste profile make Tolerase® P ideal for supplement applications, where stability and formulation flexibility are paramount. With proven stability at temperatures ≤ 30°C and a 24-month shelf life at ≤15°C, manufacturers can ensure consistent quality and performance throughout the product lifecycle.

Elevating the efficacy of fortified foods

Transformative solutions that address absorption and stability challenges like Tolerase® P represent more than just technical innovation—they embody our commitment to co-developing desirable and sustainable science-backed products that make our world a healthier place.