UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



s&F&j-u 



BULLETIN No. 630 



Contribution from the States Relations Service % 3j[ 



A. C. TRUE, Director ^V^"^U-i* 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



April 16, 1918 



STUDIES ON THE DIGESTIBILITY OF SOME NUT 



OILS. 1 



By A. D. Holmes, Specialist in Charge of Digestion Experiments, Office of 



Home Economics. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 



Methods of procedure. 



Subjects 



Almond oil 



Black- walnut oil 



Brazil-nut oil 



Butternut oil 



English-walnut oil. 



Hickory-nut oil 



Pecan oil 



Conclusions 



INTRODUCTION. 



This paper records the results of a study of the digestibility of 

 almond, black-walnut, Brazil-nut, butternut, English-walnut, hick- 

 ory-nut, and pecan oils. 



Previous papers 2 of this series have reported the digestibility of 

 lard, beef fat, mutton fat (kidney fats), butter; cream, chicken, 

 goose, fish, brisket, and egg-yolk fats ; and cocoa butter, olive, cotton- 

 seed, peanut, coconut, and sesame oils. The results of the study of 

 the digestibility of these fats indicate that they are well utilized by 

 the human body and may be used in amounts exceeding those of the 

 ordinary diet, without causing any laxative effects. In the experi- 

 ments all of the fats were separated from the materials in which they 

 naturally occur. Most of them are thus used in the ordinary diet, 

 though with a few (egg fat and fish fat, for example) this is not the 

 case. The present paper has to do with the digestibility of the oils 

 obtained from some of the common nuts considered in comparison 

 with the digestibility of the large number of animal and vegetable 

 fats which are being considered in this series. While these oils can 



1 Prepared under the direction of C. F. Langworthy, Chief, Office of Home Economics. 

 2 U. S. Dept. Agr. Buls. 310 (1915), 505 (1917), 507 (1917). 



Note.— This bulletin is primarily of interest to students and investigators of food 

 problems. 



18080°— 18— Bull. 630 1 



