An overview of the analytical methods for food phytates

Phytate, an antinutrtional factor impairing mineral absorption and protein digestion even when present in small amount has been a subject of investigation from nutritional and chemical viewpoints. Phytic acid which is the inositol combined with six phosphates group is a common constituent in most of the plants as an important source of phosphorus therefore accurate methods for its determination is needed. As there is no specific reagent for the determination of phyate; many methods involve the determination where inositol or phosphates are estimated or by stoichiometric ratios between phytates and specific cations. Direct methods are the most popular method for determining phytates in food and feed stuffs. Extraction being the preliminary stage in determination of phytates, dilute Hydrochloric acid (HCl), Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) are used in common. Quantitative methods for phytates are presented under colourimetric determination, ion exchange chromatography, HPLC, NMR.