Phytin

PHYTIN, a mixture of calcium-magnesium salts of inositol phosphoric acids, which are complex esters of the hexatomic alcohol inositol C₆H₆(OH)₆ and phosphoric acid. Phytin is found in beans, peas, lentils, wheat, rye, oats, maize, in the seeds of hemp, sunflower, turnip, white and yellow lupins, red spruce, in potato tubers, in onion bulbs, in carrots and many other plants. Of all the phosphorus found in seeds, 70% to 90% belongs to phytin. In the USSR, phytin has been manufactured at the Karpova pharmaceutical factory since 1924 from dehemped oil cakes, which are treated with weak sulfuric acid. From the solution, after purification from protein substances, phytin precipitates upon neutralization—a white amorphous powder, insoluble in water and soluble in mineral acids. Composition: about 16% inositol, about 35% organic phosphoric acid calculated as P₂O₅; about 1% mineral phosphoric acid, 8-10% calcium oxide, 11.5-19% magnesium oxide, up to 30% moisture. Phytin can also be prepared artificially (Anderson). Phytin is excreted in the urine in the form of phosphates (80%), part is excreted unchanged. A number of authors, when prescribing phytin, note an increase in the acidity of gastric juice and increased appetite, an increase in the amount of hemoglobin and blood elements, as well as an intensification of metabolism. Phytin is used as a compound containing phosphorus in cases of debility, mental fatigue, rickets and in a number of other cases when the body needs an enhanced supply of phosphorus. Prescribed in powders (tablets, capsules) at 0.25 four times a day. For children 6-10 years old—0.5-1, from 2 to 6 years old—0.25-0.5 per day.