The digestibility coefficients of myristic, palmitic and stearic acids in the diet of sheep

Abstract

Summary The apparent digestibility coefficients of the various constituents of diets containing myristic, palmitic or stearic acids have been determined in an experiment with 8 sheep. The inclusion of myristic acid in the diet had no effect on the digestibility coefficient of total dry matter or crude protein, but it decreased the digestibility coefficients of crude fibre and nitrogen-free-extractives and increased the digestibility coefficients of fat and minerals. When palmitic acid was included in the diet there were decreases in the digestibility coefficients of total dry matter, crude fibre and nitrogen-free-extractives. The inclusion of stearic acid in the diet resulted in decreases in the digestibility coefficients of dry matter and nitrogen-free-extractives. There was an inverse relationship between the melting points and the digestibility coefficients of the added fatty acids. The findings of this investigation are discussed in relation to the results of a previous study on the effects of these dietary fatty acids on the yield and composition of cow's milk.