Nutritional and metabolic studies of noncyclic dimeric fatty acid methyl esters in the rat

Methyl esters of noncyclic dimeric fatty acids were prepared by fractionation of the crude product ob‐tained by heating a mixture of methyl oleate and di‐ fert ‐butyl peroxide for 48 hr at 130 C in a high pressure reactor. Rats fed diets containing less than 1% of the noncyclic dimer methyl ester showed no significant difference in growth, feed efficiency, and liver size, from those fed nutritionally adequate diets. The 14 C‐labeled dimer was also synthesized and administered to rats via gastric intubation. The results indicated that an average of 85% of the radioactivity was recoverable from the gastrointestinal tract and feces within 48 hr of administration and that such an amount was not absorbed by the rat. Within a 48 hr period ca. 5% of the 14 C was recovered in the expired CO 2 and about 1% in the urine. Prefeeding rats diets containing dimer did not appear to influence the metabolism of either dimer or methyl oleate.