摘要：A nutritional evaluation was carried out to determine the effects of red palm oil and refined palm olein on digestion of nutrients in animals. Four-week-old Wistar albino rats (n = 8 per group) were maintained for 28 days on standard dry rat food supplemented (10, 20 and 30% by weight) with red palm oil (RPO) and refined palm olein (REFPO). The digestion of nutrients (measured from the differences between nutrient intake and fecal nutrient) by rats fed 10% oil-supplemented diets was comparable to that of the control (p>0.01). There were inverse dose-effect relationships between the level of dietary fat and digestion of protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, manganese and copper. In comparison with other experimental groups, animals fed 30% oil diets exhibited the lowest digestion of proximate nutrients (p feed utilization (p 0.01). The above findings suggest that consumption of palm in moderate amounts may impact growth and development through effects on nutrient retention.
