UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
1 BULLETIN No. 687 § 
Contribution from the States Relations Service 
A. C. TRUE, Director. 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER. 
June 28, 1918 
DIGESTIBILITY OF SOME SEED OILS. 1 
By A. D. Holmes, Specialist in Charge of Digestion Experiments, Office of Home 
Economics. 
CONTENTS. 
Introduction 1 
Experimental methods 2 
Corn oil 3 
Soy-bean oil 6 
Sunflower-seed oil 9 
Page. 
Japanese mustard-seed oil 11 
Rapeseed oil 13 
Charlock oil 15 
Summary 17 
INTRODUCTION. 
It was pointed out in the initial paper 2 of this series that while 
the information available regarding the digestibility of the various 
proteins and carbohydrates was quite extensive, much less attention 
had been given to the determination of the digestibility of the fats. 
Not only is the information regarding the digestibility of edible 
fats limited but even when studies have been reported they were sel- 
dom made under uniform conditions which permit of comparison. 
Accordingly, this investigation was undertaken to obtain the coef- 
ficients of digestibility of a large number of the edible fats, under 
experimental conditions, as nearly as possible identical for all the 
fats studied. 
Attention was first given to the animal fats, and the earlier 
papers 3 of this series contain reports of studies of the digestibility 
of lard, beef fat, mutton fat (kidney fats), butter, cream, and 
chicken, goose, egg yolk, brisket, and fish fats. The results indicate 
that all were well digested when eaten in amounts not in excess of 
those consumed in the ordinary dietary. More recent papers report 
studies of the digestibility of some of the better-known vegetable 
1 Prepared under the direction of C. F. Langworthy, Chief, Office of Home Economics. 
2 U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 310 (1915), pp. 22. 
3 U. S. Dept. Agr. Buls. 310 (1915), 507 (1917). 
Note. — This bulletin records studies of the digestibility of corn oil, soy-bean oil, sun- 
flower-seed oil, Japanese mustard-seed oil, rapseed oil, and charlock oil. It is primarily of 
interest to students and investigators of food problems. 
53022°— Bull. 687—18 1 
