DIGESTIBILITY OF SOME SEED OILS. 9 



Summary of digestion experiments icith soy-hean oil in a simple mixed diet. 



Experi- 

 ment 

 No. 



Subject. 



Pro- 

 tein. 



Fat. 



Car- 

 bohy- 

 drates. 



Ash. 



432 



D. G. G 



Percent. 

 50.2 

 46.9 

 57.0 

 52.7 

 59.9 

 29.6 

 65.1 



Percent. 

 93.5 

 92.4 

 93.1 

 93.0 

 95.4 

 93.2 

 95.8 



Per cent. 

 95.4 

 97.2 

 97.0 

 97.2 

 96.1 

 97.1 

 97.6 



Per cent, 

 63.5 



433 



A. J. H 



62.1 



434 



R.L. S 



54.7 



435 



0. E. S 



64.3 



440 



D. G. G 



70.6 



441 



A. J. H 



59.3 



442 



0. E. S . . 



75.2 











51.6 



93.8 



96.8 



64.2 









It is shown in the summary of the data reported aboA^e for the 

 seven experiments with soy-bean oil that on an average the subjects 

 ate 21 gi'ams of protein, 82 grams of fat, and 366 grams of carbo- 

 hydrates, and that coefficients of digestibility of these constituents 

 supplied by the diet as a whole were for protein 51.6 per cent, for 

 fat 93.8 per cent, and for carbohydrates 96.8 per cent. The fuel 

 value of the diet was 2,285 calories. 



The values obtained for the digestibility of total fat in the indi- 

 vidual experiments agree fairh^ closely with one another, the major- 

 ity being within 1 per cent of the average value 93.8 per cent. 



In a series of experiments^ in which the basal ration was eaten 

 without the addition of fat it was found that the feces resulting 

 contained a certain amount of ether-soluble material. When allow- 

 ance is made in the above data for the ether extract of the feces not 

 resulting from the soy-bean oil the value 93.5 per cent becomes 97.5 

 per cent for the digestibility of soy-bean oil alone. 



Since the subjects reported no unusual physiological effects as a 

 result of this diet, and in view of the very complete utilization of 

 soy-bean oil hj the body, it would seem that well-refined soy-bean oil 

 should prove a satisfactory food, and could be used in the same man- 

 ner and quantities as other oils commonly used in the diet. 



SUNFLOWER-SEED OIL. 



It is well known that the seeds of the sunflower {HeUanthus an- 

 nuus), when subjected to pressure, yield a light yellow oil having 

 properties quite similar to those of the common vegetable oils. Sun- 

 flower-seed oil, which was used by American Indians for food pur- 

 poses," is now little used as a food oil in the United States, the 

 probable reason being the demand for the seed for poultry feeding 

 and the large supply of other better-known oils. In some of the 



lU. S. Dept. A^. Bui. 310 (1915), p. 17. 



2 n-oquois Foods and Food Preparation, Can. Dept. Mines, Geol. Survey, 86 (1916), 

 p. 100. 



53022° — Bull. 687 — 18 2 



