Tannins in Prepress-Solvent and Solvent Processed Rapeseed Meal

During the course of studies on the nutritive value of rapeseed meal for poultry, fifteen samples of prepress-solvent and solvent processed rapeseed meal were analysed for tannins. The method of analysis used was that described for cloves and allspice in the 10th edition of Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (1965). Check analyses were done on two of the samples at another laboratory.2 Results of the analyses are recorded in Table 1. It would appear from the data that rapeseed meal contains appreciable amounts of tannins, perhaps, on the basis of the work of Vohra et al. (1966) sufficient to adversely affect chick growth and the metabolizable energy value of rations when rapeseed meal is fed at high levels. REFERENCES Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, 1965 Methods of Analysis, 10th ed., Washington, D.C. Vohra, P., F. H., Kratzer and M. A., Joslyn, 1966. The growth . . .