Technical aspects about measuring phosphorus in food

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient present in food from either vegetable or animal sources, which could be part of the inorganic salts or bound to organic compounds. Organic phosphates are present in foods as phosphoproteins and phospholipids, phytate or starch phosphate monoester in vegetables, as well as several enzymes involved in many different metabolic pathways, namely phosphocreatine, nucleotides, nucleoproteins, and nucleic acids. In addition to the above mentioned compounds, which are naturally present in foods, phosphorus can be added as preservative. These additives can be either organic (like lecithin) or inorganic (like polyphosphate) compounds.