The role of phytic acid in legumes: antinutrient or beneficial function?

Abstract

This review describes the present state of knowledge about phytic acid (phytate), which is often present in legume seeds. The antinutritional effects of phytic acid primarily relate to the strong chelating associated with its six reactive phosphate groups. Its ability to complex with proteins and particularly with minerals has been a subject of investigation from chemical and nutritional viewpoints. The hydrolysis of phytate into inositol and phosphates or phosphoric acid occurs as a result of phytase or nonenzymatic cleavage. Enzymes capable of hydrolysing phytates are widely distributed in micro-organisms, plants and animals. Phytases act in a stepwise manner to catalyse the hydrolysis of phytic acid. To reduce or eliminate the chelating ability of phytate, dephosphorylation of hexa- and penta-phosphate forms is essential since a high degree of phosphorylation is necessary to bind minerals. There are several methods of decreasing the inhibitory effect of phytic acid on mineral absorption (cooking, germination, fermentation, soaking, autolysis). Nevertheless, inositol hexaphosphate is receiving increased attention owing to its role in cancer prevention and/or therapy and its hypocholesterolaemic effect.

Reduction of phytic acid and enhancement of bioavailable micronutrients in food grains

“…Furthermore, phytic acid acts as antinutritive agent by blocking the absorption of minerals such as Fe, Zn, and Ca. The binding results in insoluble salt with poor bioavailability of minerals (Zhou and Erdman 1995;Urbano et al 2000;Feil 2001).…”

Fitat dan fitase : dampak pada hewan ternak

“…Metabolisme ini melibatkan chelate mineral dan menghilangkan kofaktor serta membutuhkan aktivitas enzim secara optimal akibat terbentuknya reaksi kompleks fitat-enzim. Kemampuan asam fitat yang lain adalah dapat menghambat aktivitas amilase baik secara langsung atau tidak langsung dengan chelating Ca, yang merupakan kofaktor yang diperlukan untuk amilase (Rickard and Thompson, 1997 (Deshpande and Damodaran, 1989;Urbano et al, 2000;Greiner and Konietzny, 2011).…”

An Insight of Pulses: From Food to Cancer Treatment

“…It is present in most of the legumes, especially high fiber diets [65][66][67][68][69][70][71]. It has been revealed that phytic acid inhibits neoplastic growth in multiple types of cancer including breast, colon, liver, prostate, rhabdomyosarcoma and skin.…”