930 XIV. NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF FATS 



fat tested. According to Deuel et a/./^^ triacetin is a source of liver glyco- 

 gen. McManus, Bender, and Garrett^^"* fed triacetin ecjual in caloric value 

 to 15% glucose, and found that the triacetin was utilized as efficiently as 

 was the glucose. Ambrose and Rol)bins'*"'^^^ tested the digestibility and 

 absorption of acetostearin and of acetoolein in rats, ovev a four-hour period. 

 The acetooleins appeared to be better absorbed than the acetostearins; 

 both were absorbed at about the same rate as a commercial shortening, 

 under the experimental conditions. The various acetoglycerides were 

 utilized by the rats in much the same maimer as were natural fats. The 

 digestibility figures were approximately 99% for the acetooleins, 80 and 

 80.8% for the acetostearins melting at 30.7°C. and 57°3., respectively, and 

 85% for the acetostearin melting at 32.5°C. For the mixtures of 15% of 

 acetostearin and 10% of acetoolein, and of 10% of acetostearin and 10% 

 acetoolein, the digestibilities were 85.1 and 93.7%, respectively. Thus, the 

 acetostearins are not so readily digestible as the acetooleins. This may be 

 due to the large amount of stearic acid formed during digestion, which 

 combines with calcium to form calcium stearate; the latter is not readily 

 utilized. The digestibility of acetostearin is markedly impro\'ed by mix- 

 ture with acetoolein, as indicated by a decrease in the amount of fatty 

 acid excreted as soap. This would suggest that acetostearins in a suitable 

 ture with other edible fats and oils, or a mixture of 80% acetoolein and 

 20% acetostearin, would be completely edil)le.'"^ Ambrose and Robbins'''^ 

 further stated -that the feeding of acetostearin up to 4% or of pure aceto- 

 olein up to 1% of the diet of rats, for over a year, did not interfere with 

 growth or food utilization. Commercial acetostearins from hydrogenated 

 lard, or acetoolein from cottonseed oil or lard, when included in concentra- 

 tions of 5% or 10% of the diet for eighty-six weeks, also failed to interfere 

 with growth or food utilization. The feeding of 20% of acetostearins, how- 

 ever, had a slight inhibitor effect upon growth, while acetoolein, fed as 20% 

 of the diet, did not inhibit growth. In concentrations of 10% of the diet, 

 two of three samples of acetostearin affected the progeny, while two samples 

 of acetoolein had no effect over several generations. 



Herting et al^" found that the digestion by rats of distilled, acetylated 

 saturated monoglycerides prepared from hydrogenated lard corresponded 



«3 H. J. Deuel, Jr., J. S. Butts, H. Blunden, C. H. Cutler, and L. Knott, /. Biol. 

 Chem., 117, 119-129 (imi). 



^1* T. B. McManus, C. B. Bender, and O. F. Garrett, /. Dairy Set., 26, 13-23 (1943). 



«5 D. J. Robbins and A. M. Ambrose, Federation Proc, 14, 382-383 (1955). 



4i« A. M. Ambrose and D. J. Robbins, Federation Proc, /4, 314-315 (1955). 



4" D. C. Herting, S. R. Ames, M. Koukides, and P. L. Harris, /. Nutrition, 57, 369- 

 387 (1955). 



