Correlation of Biological Value of Feed Phosphates with Their Solubility in Water, Dilute Hydrogen Chloride, Dilute Citric Acid, and Neutral Ammonium Citrate

Relative biological values (BV) of 36 feed phosphates were determined with female turkeys in bioassays of 21-day duration using three response criteria: weight gain, tibia ash percentage, and gain:feed ratio. Calcium phosphate, dibasic dihydrate (United States Pharmacopeia) was the reference standard. Nine mono-dicalcium phosphates (M-DCP, 21.0% phosphorus), 13 di-monocalcium phosphates (D-MCP, 18.5% phosphorus), and 14 defluorinated phosphates (DFP, 18.0% phosphorus) were evaluated. The average relative BV for M-DCP, D-MCP, and DFP samples were 97.6, 94.6, and 90.8%, respectively. Solubility of phosphates was determined by four recognized methods. The solvents were water, .4% HCl, 2.0% citric acid (CA), and neutral ammonium citrate (NAC). Water solubility of M-DCP samples was greater (67.5%) than that of D-MCP (38.8%) and DFP (8.9%) samples. Correlation of water solubility of phosphates to their relative BV was quite low, and water solubility was a poor indicator of BV. When .4% HCl was the solvent, correlation coefficients (r) were .55, .33, and .72 for M-DCP, D-MCP, and DFP, respectively. Based on these results and prediction equations, .4% HCl solubility would be inappropriate for estimating BV of M-DCP and D-MCP samples. Solubility of feed phosphates (mainly D-MCP and DFP) in 2.0% CA or NAC was positively correlated with BV; the r values were .87 to .95. Both of these solubility tests provided a good index of BV. However, it would seem inappropriate and risky to replace bioassays totally with these tests. Feed phosphate users could perform either the 2.0% CA or NAC solubility test easily as a screen for BV along with other quality control procedures (i.e., phosphorus, calcium, sodium, and fluoride determinations).