Phosphates

Phosphate is one of the natural ingredients of almost all foods, and is widely used in food processing as an important food ingredient and functional additive.

The naturally occurring phosphate is phosphate rock (containing calcium phosphate). Sulfuric acid reacts with the phosphate rock to produce calcium dihydrogen phosphate and calcium sulfate that can be absorbed by plants to produce phosphate.

Phosphates can be divided into orthophosphates and polycondensed phosphates: the phosphates used in food processing are usually sodium, calcium, potassium, and iron and zinc salts as nutritional enhancers. There are more than 30 varieties,

Sodium phosphate is the main consumption type of domestic food phosphate. With the development of food processing technology, the consumption of potassium phosphate is also increasing year by year.

In order to give full play to the synergistic effect of various phosphates and phosphates and other additives, and meet the development needs of food processing technology, various compound phosphates are often used as food ingredients and functional additives in practical applications. The research and development of formulated phosphate has increasingly become the development direction of the development and application of phosphate food additives.

In agriculture, phosphate is one of the three main nutrients of plants and the main ingredient of fertilizers. Phosphate rock powder is mined from the phosphorus layer of sedimentary rock. In the past, it can be used without processing after mining, but now the unprocessed phosphate is only used for organic farming. Generally, it will be chemically processed to make superphosphate lime, superphosphate or ammonium dihydrogen phosphate. Their concentration is higher than that of phosphate, and they are more soluble in water, so plants can absorb it faster.