DIGESTIBILITY OF SOME SEED OILS. 
11 
Summary of digestion experiments with sunflower-seed oil in a simple mixed 
diet. 
Experi- 
ment 
No. 
Subject. 
Protein. 
Fat. 
Carbo- 
hydrates. 
Ash. 
597 
A.J. H 
Per cent. 
74.7 
81.0 
81.0 
70.7 
Per cent. 
95.2 
93.0 
95.0 
91.9 
Per cent. 
97.3 
97.7 
97.3 
96.9 
Per cent. 
60.9 
598 
P. K 
77.0 
599 
J. CM 
75.4 
600 
C.J. W 
56.8 
76.9 
93.8 
97.3 
67.5 
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 experimental 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 condiment al 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 
