DIGESTIBILITY OF SOME SEED OILS. 



11 



Summary of digestion experiments with sunflower-seed oil in a simple mixed 



diet. 



Experi- 

 ment 

 No. 



597 

 598 

 599 

 60& 



Subject. 



A.J.H 



P.K 



J. CM 



C.J. w 



Average 



Protein. 



Per cent. 

 74.7 

 81.0 

 81.0 

 70.7 



76.9 



Fat. 



Carbo- 

 hydrates. 



Per cent. 

 95.2 

 93.0 

 95.0 

 91.9 



93.8 



Per cent. 

 97.3 

 97.7 

 97.3 



Ash. 



Per cent. 

 60.9 

 77.0 

 75.4 

 56.8 



The data of the above experiments indicate that the subjects ate 

 on an average 92 grams of fat daily during the test periods and that 

 this was 93.8 per cent digested. Approximately 98 per cent of the 

 total fat eaten, or 90 grams daily, was sunflower-seed oil. When 

 allowance is made for the metabolic products and the unutilized fat 

 resulting from the fat of the basal ration, the value 93.8 per cent 

 obtained for the digestibility of the total fat of the diet becomes 

 96.5 per cent for the digestibility of sunflower oil alone. 



The diet as a whole supplied 35 grams of protein, 92 grams of 

 fat, and 370 grams of carbohydrates per man per day, the average 

 fuel value being 2,450 calories. 



The subjects reported that they were in normal physical condition 

 throughout the exj)erimental period which would indicate that the 

 limit of tolerance for sunflower-seed oil is in excess of a consumption 

 of 90 grams daily, and that this amount is well assimilated by the 

 body. 



JAPANESE MUSTARD-SEED OIL. 



Commercial mustard-seed oil occurs as a by-product of the manu- 

 facture of mustard used for condimental purposes and was formerly 

 obtained from the seeds of a variety of mustard plants or from a 

 mixture of seeds of different varieties. As a result of the present 

 unsettled commercial conditions, little if any of those varieties of 

 mustard seed formerly used for condimental purposes is now im- 

 ported into this country. In order to meet the demand for mustard 

 the manufacturers have employed the yellow Japanese mustard seed 

 to quite an extent, and as a consequence the amount of Japanese 

 mustard-seed oil on the market has been very greatly increased. 



The seeds of the Japanese mustard {Brassica cernua) when sub- 

 jected to pressure yield a light, brownish-yellow oil, having much 

 the same characteristics as the common edible oils, and while little 

 used in this country for edible purposes, should be considered as of 

 interest from the standpoint of an edible oil. 



No reports of the determination of the digestibility of this oil were 

 found in the literature consulted. The oil used in these experiments 



