Phytase is
a phosphatase that is capable of catalyzing the release of
phosphorus from phytate. Unfortunately, monogastric
animals do not possess phytase enzymes in quantities
that would allow these animals to utilize phytate as a
source of phosphorus. In the 1960s, a group of scientists
working for International Minerals and Chemicals
Corporation recognized that the need to supplement the
diets of monogastric animals with inorganic phosphorus
could be decreased if phytate phosphorus could be
made available to animals by treating the grains with
phytase. An excellent review of this early work and
current research on phytase has been published by
Wodzinski and Ullah (1996).