Potassium phosphate tribasic is a reagent with a very high buffering capacity. It is widely used in molecular biology, biochemistry, and chromatography, used for the extraction of keratohyalin protein from bovine tissue, to study the effects of freezing and thawing on the stability of proteins sensitive to conformational changes. It is used as a food additive for its properties as an emulsifier, foaming agent, and whipping agent.