The hypotheses of this study were that dietary benzoic acid increases mineral digestibility resulting in increased
mineral retention, and that these effects would be more profound with a higher level of inclusion of benzoic acid.
The objective was to investigate the effect of 10 or 20 g kg−1 inclusion of benzoic acid on balance, plasma concentration, and bone content (femur) of Ca, P, Mg, K, Na, and Cl. In addition, the effect of dietary inclusion of benzoic acid on the pH of urine and blood were determined. The study found that dietary inclusion of benzoic acid did in fact affect the pH in urine and plasma, the ATTD, retention, and plasma concentrations of Ca, P, K, Na, and Cl, and the concentrations of Ca, P, and Cl in the femur. It was concluded that dietary benzoic acid improved utilization of dietary Ca, P, and K, did not affect utilization of dietary Mg, and reduced utilization of dietary Na and Cl. These results indicate that the dietary inclusion of benzoic acid affects the utilization and metabolism of the macrominerals Ca, P, K, Mg, Na, and Cl differently, suggesting that several underlying mechanisms are involved.

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