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ABSTRACT
[VOL. XVIII, PART 1,
The Value of Vitamin a Therapy in Cases Diagnosed as Ketosis in Dairy Cows
C. E. HAYDEN, M. G. FINCHER, S. J. ROBERTS, W. J. GIBBONS AND A. G. DANKS (1946).
The Cornell Veterinarian 36, 71
E VER since Patton made the first observation in 1944 that vitamin A deficiency is responsible for
ketosis, considerable attention has been paid to this treatment.
The authors report their findings on nine dairy cows. Six of them were uncomplicated cases of
ketosis, one of mild ketosis complicated with metritis and cystic ovary and two of mild ketosis compli-
cated with enteritis. Six to 18.5 million units of vitamin A were given to the cows without any
ameliorative effect. The authors conclude that vitamin A therapy in ketosis is of no value. A
big dose had no favourable effect on the blood sugar and acetone bodies of the blood and urine.
[N.D.K.]
The Importance of Commercial Processing for the Protein Value Food Products. H. H. Mitcheli,
T. S. Hamilton and J. R. Beadles (1945).
J. Nut. 29,1, 13—25
T HE authors have determined the effect of heat treatment on the protein of the soya bean and
the nutritive value of meal obtained after the commercial extraction of oil from oil bearing seeds
like coconut and sunflower. The autoclaving of soya bean for one hour under 15 lb. pressure increased,
digestibility of its nitrogen by 5 per cent and the biological value by 18 per cent. The effect is attri-
butable to improved availability of the amino-acid, cystine, contained in the soya bean protein.
Further study of the effect of heat treatment on the nutritive value of the protein of the soya
bean has been made with growing rats using the nitrogen balance method on three samples of soya bean
flour (1) raw flour, not submitted to any treatment other than grinding (2) exploded flour, where the
beans were placed in a rotating closed chamber at a temperature of 550°F for 90 seconds, steam being
then injected into the chamber for an additional period of 60 seconds until the pressure reached 185
lbs. per square inch followed by the suddenly opening of the chamber to the atmosphere (3) partially
exploded flour, prepared exactly as (2) except that the steam was injected over a period of 45 seconds
till the pressure was 165 lbs. per square inch. Although the results of chemical analysis of the three
samples were remarkably similar the average digestibility and biological value of the nitrogen of the
raw soya bean flour. 84.8 and 59.4 respectively, were significantly lower than those of the fully exploded
flour, 93.4 and 71.2 respectively which in turn were lower than that of the partially exploded flour
which were 95.6 and 75.2.
In the commercial preparation of coconut meal and sunflower seed meal, the authors have adopted
a solvent extraction method at a temperature not exceeding 75°C and found that it produces uniform
meals, stable in character, and with the original nutrients unimpaired in amount and quality. Tests
carried out on the coconut meal show its protein to be 86 per cent digestible and to possess a biological
value of 71, which are considerably higher than that obtained for a product tested earlier but prepared
by the usual drastic methods. The protein of sunflower meal prepared in the same way, was 84.3
per cent digestible with a biological value of 64.5. Taking the protein content, the digestibility of
protein and the biological value of the digested protein into consideration, which according to the senior
author constitute the net protein value, the products tested fall into the following order.
Sunflower seed meal (33.7), partially exploded soya flour (30.2), fully expolded soya flour (27.8)
raw soya flour (214) and coconut meal (12.6). The method of oil extraction at low temperatures has,
therefore, many advantages in preserving the high nutritive value of the meals of many oil bearing
seeds. (N.K.)
DOUGLAS H. K. LEE. KATHLEEN W. ROBINSON. NEIL T. M. YEATES, AND MARGARET I. R. SCOTT.
(1945). Poultry Husbandry in Hot Climates. Poul. Sci. 24, 195-207
A n interesting article on the reactions of fowls to hot atmospheres and a valuable contribution
to the subject of avian physiology, which is in a neglected state.