6 BULLETIN 781, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Summary of digestion experiments with apricot oil in a simple mixed diet. 
Subject. 
Digestibility of entire ration. 
Estimated 
digestibil- 
Experiment No. 
Protein. 
Fat. 
Carbo- 
hydrate. 
Ash. 
ity of apri- 
cot oil 
alone. 
559 
H. R. G 
A. J. H 
Per cent. 
64.0 
15.2 
67.5 
66.3 
Per cent. 
94.7 
92.3 
95.4 
95.1 
Per cent. 
95.3 
96.1 
97.5 
96.8 
Per cent. 
68.8 
47.5 
75.7 
75.3 
Per cent. 
99 7 
560 
96.4 
561 
P. K 
98 6 
562 
C J w 
98 8 
Average 
53.3 
94.4 
96.4 
66.8 
98.4 
The coefficients of digestibility of the diet as a whole are compar- 
able to those obtained in other tests with edible oils, being 53.3 per 
cent for protein. 94.4 per cent for fat, and 96.4 per cent for carbohy- 
drate. On an average the subjects ate 23 grams of protein, 70 grams 
of fat, and 372 grams of carbohydrate daily, which had an energy 
value of 2,200 calories. The figure obtained for the digestibility of 
apricot oil alone, 98.4 per cent, indicates that this oil possesses a high 
nutritive value. In the tests referred to above, none of the subjects 
reported any unusual physiological conditions resulting from the in- 
gestion of apricot oil. The results of these experiments as a whole, 
therefore, would seem to indicate that a high-grade cold-pressed 
apricot oil may be freely and safely used for edible purposes. 
CHERRY-KERNEL OIL. 
When cherry kernels are subjected to pressure and " cold pressed " a 
light-yellow, bland, fatty oil is obtained. Lewkowitsch 1 reports that 
in South Germany cold-pressed cherry-kernel oil is used for edible 
purposes. He further says that the oil expressed at higher tempera- 
ture is used for soap making and illuminating purposes, but that 
cherry oil is not used as an adulterant of almond oil because of its 
tendency to become rancid. 
In discussing the value and uses of cherry-kernel oil for other than 
edible purposes, Eabak 2 states that since this oil closely resembles 
almond, peach, and apricot oil it should be well adapted for use in 
pharmaceutical preparations. 
The cherry-kernel oil studied in the experiments here reported was 
obtained by expression from dried cherry pits which were secured 
through the courtesy of a large canning establishment. The kernels 
were removed from the cherry pits fry passing the pits through a 
mill having vertical grinding plates so set as to crack the pits without 
crushing the kernels. (The cracked pits were separated from the 
1 Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, Fats, and Waxps. 
& Co. (Ltd.), 1909, voh 2, p. 225. 
2 U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 350 (1916), pp. 8, 17. 
London : Macmillan 
