The tocopherol content of farm feeding‐stuffs

The amounts of the individual tocopherols in some common farm feeding‐stuffs have been determined and the presumable vitamin‐E potencies of the feeding‐stuffs calculated from them. Grass, clover and Iucerne contained 10‐40 mg. of tocopherol/100 g. of dry matter, and it has been shown that the concentration in grass fell to a low level as the plant matured. Only minute amounts of tocopherols were present in root crops. Barley, maize, oats and wheat contained 1‐7 mg. of tocopherols/100 g., but the vitamin‐E activity of these crops was lower than the total tocopherol‐content might suggest, because of the presence of appreciable amounts of the less active β‐ and γ‐compounds. The bearing of the results on naturally‐occurring muscular dystrophy in farm animals is discussed.