$6 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
TABLE A. 
Coefficients of avatlability of nutrients of different groups of food 
materials and of total nutrients of mixed diet. 






| Protein. | Fats. aes 
Ween ene ere | fo 
Animal foods, - - = - : Sem Pee Vi 95 98 
Cereals, .- é 2 : © = 3 ape eRe es Pee e, 98 
Legumes, dried, - s - : - Ae halen go 97 
Sugars and starches, - - : - a 98 
Vegetables, - - u : : - 2% neh) parental) 95 
Fruits, - : - - : < : peng asa eek go go 
Vegetable foods - - - - - ean icaepcet 3 go 97 
Total food, - . z “ L - BE NE ob 95 TO 

In applying the assumed factors for availability (coefficients 
of availability) to the results of actual digestion experiments 
with men upon mixed diet the method employed was in brief 
as follows: The amount of available protein, for example, 
was calculated upon the assumption that 97 per cent. of the 
protein in animal food, 85 per cent. of that in cereal food, 78 
per cent. of that in the dried legumes, 83 per cent. of that in 
vegetables and 85 per cent. of that in fruits can be utilized by 
the body. The sum of the amounts of protein thus computed 
as available in the different groups divided by the total amount 
of protein in the food eaten gives the calculated coefficient of 
availability. The computed coefficients of availability for the 
fats and carbohydrates were obtained in a similar manner. 
The average variations between the coefficients as found and 
as calculated are inconsiderable. In some individual experi- 
ments they reached 5 per cent. for one or more nutrients. In 
some cases the calculated values were larger, in others they 
were smaller than those found by. experiment. ‘These vari- 
ations in individual experiments are not at all surprising. 
Different specimens of the same food material may differ in 
availability with differences in composition and method of 
cooking, just as different persons may vary in their capacity 
to digest the food. But these minor variations disappear in 
the average of a large number of experiments, as is seen in the 
figures for all the experiments together. In the whole 93 
experiments averaged in the above table the. coefficients for 
the availability of protein were 93.3 as found, against 93.6 as 

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