DIGESTIBILITY OF SOME VEGETABLE FATS. 5 
Summary of digestion experiments with olive oil in a simple mixed diet. 
Experi- 
ment No. 
Subject. 
Protein. 
Fat. 
Carbohy- 
drates. 
Ash. 
Per cent. 
Per cent. 
Per cent. 
Per cent. 
151 
D. G. G 
69.5 
95.1 
95.3 
58.9 
153 
R. L. S 
59.5 
91.5 
96.1 
43.4 
154 
R. F. T 
! 64.9 
93.7 
96.9 
57.0 
183 
D. G. G 
1 75.3 
95.0 
97.1 
71.8 
184 
R. L. S 
1 74.0 
95.3 
97.9 
77.3 
185 
0. E. S 
80.7 
97.9 
98.4 
84.2 
186 
R, F. T 
62.1 
93.5 
96.5 
56.3 
243 
D. G. G 
64.9 
95.4 
95.7 
62.9 
244 
R. L. S 
72.9 
95.6 
97.1 
69.1 
245 
0. E. S 
70.5 
94.4 
96.5 
70.4 
Average 
69.4 
94.7 
96.8 
65.1 
The average coefficient of digestibility of all the fat eaten during 
these tests was 94.7. As the ether extract of the feces, however, is 
known to contain metabolic products, a correction has been applied to 
all of the value for the average availability of total fat consumed. 
Digestion experiments with the basal ration alone as the only source 
of fat have been reported in connection with the animal-fat experi- 
ments, from which it was concluded that 9.89 per cent of the total 
weight of water-free feces occurs as metabolic products. 1 Subtracting 
the quantity represented by this percentage from the total ether 
extract of the feces, a value is obtained more nearly representing the 
weight of unutilized fat. The corrected value for the availability of 
olive oil then becomes 97.8 per cent. 
The five subjects reported that they remained in normal physical 
condition during the experimental periods. In experiment No. 185, 
in which 80 grams of olive oil was eaten per day, the subject O. E. S. 
reported that the diet had a constipating effect. In experiments 
Nos. 243, 244, and 245, in which 82, 89, and 103 grams of olive oil 
were consumed, the subjects reported that the diet produced a pro- 
nounced laxative effect. However, in the experiments in which 
the laxative effect was noted, the olive oil was as completely assimi- 
lated as in the remaining experiments, and the tests as a whole yield 
additional evidence that, used in the usual ways for cooking and on the 
table, olive oil is a wholesome, valuable food. 
COTTONSEED OIL. 
Refined cottonseed oil is a common food product used as such in 
large quantities for culinary and table purposes, and also in the manu- 
facture of hardened fats and other commercial fats designed for use in 
cookery. 
Very few results have been found on record which concern the 
digestibility of cottonseed oil by the human organism, though animal 
feeding experiments have been rather common. Moore 2 has reported 
U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 310 (1915), p. 20. 
2 Loc. cit. 
