DIGESTIBILITY OF SOME NUT OILS. 15 



Summary of digestion experiments with hickory-nut oil in a simple mixed diet. 



Experiment No. 



Subject. 



Protein. 



Fat. 



Carbo- 

 hydrates. 



Ash. 



601 



A. J.H 



Per cent. 

 87.0 

 79.7 

 64.2 

 70.3 



Per cent. 

 98.4 

 97.1 

 96.5 

 96.8 



Per cent. 

 99.2 

 98.1 

 96.4 

 97.1 



Per cent. 

 74.7 



602 



P.K 



67.5 



603 



J. CM 



39.7 



604. . . 



C. J.W 



58.2 





Average 







75.3 



97.2 



97.7 



60.0 









The average coefficient of digestibility of the fat eaten, of which 

 over 98 per cent was hickory-nut oil, was 97.2 per cent, while 75.3 per 

 cent of the protein and 97.7 per cent of the carbohydrates were 

 retained in the body. The value for the digestibility of hickory-nut 

 oil alone, obtained by making allowance for the metabolic products 

 and the undigested fat resulting from the accessory foods of the diet, 

 is 99.3 per cent. The subjects consumed an average of 95 grams of 

 hickory-nut oil daily without any physiological disturbances. Thus 

 it may be reasonably concluded that if hickory-nut oil were available 

 in quantity it would prove very satisfactory for food purposes. 



PECAN OIL. 



This oil is obtained from the nuts of Gary a pecan, which are native 

 and also largely cultivated in North America. Pecan oil, although 

 it possesses the characteristics of a salad oil, is not expressed for 

 edible purposes on a commercial basis. However, since the wide use 

 of the kernels as food entails a corresponding consumption of the oil, 

 and since the expressed oil appears to be well suited for table pur- 

 poses, it seemed desirable to include pecan oil among the nut oils to 

 be studied. 



No reports of digestion experiments made with pecan oil were 

 found in the literature. Jaffa 1 reports four experiments made to 

 study the relative digestibility of the nuts eaten with fruits. Of a 

 total of 78 grams of fat eaten per man per day, 74 grams was derived 

 from pecans, which were included in a simple diet containing com- 

 mon fruits and nuts. The total fat of the diet was found to be 85 per 

 cent digested, but since over 94 per cent of the entire fat eaten was 

 supplied by the pecans this value should, so far as these results are 

 concerned, approximate the coefficient of digestibility of the oil in 

 pecans. The low value, 85 per cent, may be due partly to the subjects 

 not masticating the nuts to such a degree of fineness that the hodj 

 could completely assimilate the fat in them. 



Four experiments were made in the present series to determine the 

 digestibility of pecan oil when eaten under conditions identical with 



1 Loc. cit. 



