Digestive lipolysis in the preruminant calf. The abomasal hydrolysis of butter oil, coconut oil, palm oil and tallow

The effect of intramolecular short-chain fatty acids on the abomasal hydrolysis of long chain acyl ester bonds has been examined using four different fats. An evaluation of abomasal infusion of feeds as a technique to avoid hydrolysis of fat by salivary lipase has been made. Only calves considered to be typically functional preruminants were used for the investigations. Five preruminant calves each received five experimental milk feeds consisting of skim milk plus 3% of either butter oil, coconut oil, palm oil or tallow. All feeds were given by mouth but the feed that contained butter oil was also introduced directly into the abomasum via a simple cannula. In all cases, digesta leaving the abomasum were continuously sampled for 12 h via a re-entrant cannula in the proximal duodenum, anterior to the entry of the bile and pancreatic ducts. Butter oil given by mouth was hydrolysed to a greater extent than the other fats. This was due not only to the ease of liberation of the short chain fatty acids, but also to an enhanced liberation of longer chain acids when short chain acids are present in the triglyceride. Butter oil introduced directly into the abomasum of truly preruminant calves was not hydrolysed, suggesting that by using this technique studies could be made in vivo of the hydrolysis of fat by pancreatic lipase alone.