Elainie Gagne <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I think long fermentation as in sourdough bread virtually eliminates
>phytic acid but that would be difficult to do with nuts -I've tried some
>raw nut cheeses made this way but there were questions as to whether
>harmful pathogens were introduced abd created by this methos among raw
>food circles.

The process of eliminating phytic acid doesn't have to be long: "When water
was added to whole grain rye flour to form a slurry, the phytic acid could
be expected to be completely degraded in a few h at 25ºC." (*). That's the
method I use. I usually let the slurry stay longer than that, until it
starts to smell pleasantly. If one is impatient and can create the right
environment, then "theoretically, the phytic acid content in rye (about 1%)
could be degraded [...] in about 15 min [!] by incubating whole grain rye
flour at pH 5, 45ºC as a slurry.". Phytase (the enzyme that breaks down
phytic acid) activity of rye is extremely high and a little rye can be used
to degrade phytic acid in less active or enzymatically dead seeds and
probably even nuts: "the addition of 10% whole grain rye flour to any
cereal or cerel/legume mixture containing 1% phytic acid (assuming no other
phytase acitivity) would be sufficient to degrade all phytic acid [...] in
about 2 h under [pH 5 and 45ºC]." However, I don't think it's paleo to use
a bit living rye to degrade phytic acid in dead paleo seeds and nuts.

Phytase is destroyed between 70 and 80ºC. I think many of the so called raw
commercial nuts have zero phytase activity. I have a feeling that when nuts
are truly raw and one chews them very well, then the native phytase in nuts
will eliminate the phytic acid in the nuts in the acidic and warm
environment of the stomach (even though the pH is very low) i.e. no soaking
needed, at least to correct the problem with phytic acid. That's just a
speculation.

Fredrik

(*) Egli, I. et al. The Influence of Soaking and Germination on the Phytase
Activity and Phytic Acid Content of Grains and Seeds Potentially Useful for
Complementary Feeding. Journal of Food Science - Vol. 67, Nr. 9, 2002.