When the base diet in this study contained 0.16 percent available phosphorus, excretion was reduced by 50 percent in pigs receiving phytase but no inorganic phosphorus. Because phytate can bind other minerals as well, researchers are also studying the utilization of other nutrients with phytase supplementation. It has been suggested that dietary zinc fortification may also be decreased with phytase supplementation. Amino acid digestibility may also be improved with phytase supplementation. That would make the significant environmental benefits remarkably inexpensive to achieve.
Heat stability is a critical issue for commercial phytase products.
Apparently, phytase can be an important new nutritional tool to reduce environmental risk and feed cost while maintaining animal performance. Efficacy and safety of Novo SP938 microbial phytase supplementation of a corn-soybean meal diet fed to growing pigs. Skaggs, J.H., and E.T. Kornegay. Effectiveness of Phytase in improving the bioavailability of phosphorus and other nutrients in soybean meal-based semipurified diets for young pigs. Zhang, Z., and E.T. Kornegay. 1999.