Return to Abstracts of Literature

Return to Abstracts of Literature 1750-1999

Literature Abstracts

 1981.    KRAUTWALD, A.  [Synthetic Fat as a Foodstuff.]  Deut. Gesundheitsw., vol. 3, 1948, pp. 354-356; Chem. Abs., vol. 42, 1948, p. 7898.

        Synthetic fat consisted of glycerides of saturated fatty acids, of which 50% had an odd number of C atoms.  Analysis showed the following ester composition:  Lauric acid 18%, undecanoic acid 18%, tridecanoic acid 20%, myristic acid 8%, palmitic acid 15%, margaric acid 7%, and stearic, nonadecanoic, arachidic, and capric acids totaled 3%.  The remaining 11% were high boiling point esters.  Synthetic fat looked like butterfat, was solid at room temperature and was virtually without taste or odor.  Its melting point was 36.5°, saponification no. 235, I no. 11.  It could be stored for 2 years without apparent change in taste or odor.  Persons in good health were able to digest 100 gm./day.  It was well tolerated even by patients with liver or stomach ailments in amounts up to 50 gm./day.  It was absorbed from the intestines and easily metabolized.  Ingestion of a 50-gm. dose produced a fall in respiratory quotient in a manner similar to butter.  Experimentally induced ketosis in healthy persons could be reduced by administration of synthetic fat.