ARTICLE 54 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE February 2021 Optimising your phosphorus nutritional value as part of the Maximum Matrix Nutrition strategy Phosphorus is an expensive nutrient in feed formulation, and because it can cause eutrophication, the better knowledge on the utilisation of P will lead to reduced feed costs and reduced pollution potential. Numerous studies have looked at the evaluation of P nutritional value from raw materials and feeds beyond the total P content following different concepts and different systems of evaluation. Phosphorus* (P) is the second most abundant mineral in the body following calcium (Ca) and is an essential element in poultry diets. It plays key metabolic roles such as development and maintenance of skeletal tissue, maintenance of osmotic pressure and acid base balance, energy utilisation and transfer, protein synthesis, transport of fatty acids, and cell differentiation (DNA). Phosphorus in animal feeds comes from plant-based, inorganic mineral sources, fish and meat and bone meal. An important part of plant P is in the form of phytates, which are ionic forms of phytic acid. Phosphorus in phytate form is mostly un-available for monogastric animals under commercial conditions because they lack an adequate capacity to hydrolyse phytate and its lower esters to release phosphates that are then available. Phosphorus from mineral origin comes from phosphate rock which is treated in different ways to yield the various products available on the market. Inorganic phosphates are the most important source of P in animal feed, although their levels of incorporation in diets have been reduced drastically over time with the supplementation of phytase in feed, especially since the last phosphate crisis in 2007/2008. Knowledge of the phytate content of ingredients and feeds became an essential part of understanding how much phytase needed to be used to replace a given amount of P from the mineral sources, while maintaining growth performance and good quality of bone mineralisation. Because P is an expensive nutrient in feed formulation, and because it can cause eutrophication, the William Greenwood EMEA Sales &Technical Services Manager AB Vista Diego Parra Perez EMEA Technical Manager AB Vista Xavière Rousseau Global Support Manager AB Vista
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