Phytate Degradation During Traditional Cooking: Significance of the Phytic Acid Profile in Cereal-Based Vegetarian Meals

Phytate degradation of 272 different traditionally cooked meals was studied using ion exchange chromatography using a Dowex resin 1×8 (200–400 mesh, Cl−form) with gradient elution. Results indicate that the total phytate content of Indian meals is 2.7 times larger than meals from Western and other Asian countries. The hexa form is 45% of total phytate in Indian meals while it was 48–54% in meals from other countries, indicating more degradation during cooking of Indian meals. Further examination of the phytate degradation pattern indicated higher values (p<0.01) for IP1/IP6and IP1+2/IP5+6for Indian meals than for meals of other regions. Comparison of cereal-based diets showed significant differences between meals based on rice and millets (p<0.01), wheat and finger millet (p<0.01) for IP1/IP6, while IP1+2/IP5+6was similar for wheat, rice and sorghum (p>0.1) and significantly different (p<0.01) from pearl millet, finger millet and maize.