Food & Nutrition

Arab Journal of Food & Nutrition
59. Effect of Increasing Proportion of Dietary Fats Differing in Degree of
Unsaturation on Energy Balance and Fat Deposition in Rats (2003)
Lina J. Isaifan\ University of Jordan
Supervisor: Dr. Mousa N. Ahmad
This study was carried out to investigate the effect of increasing the proportion of
dietary fats differing in degree of unsaturation on energy balance and fat deposition in
Sprague Dawley rats. Five rats were killed at the beginning of the experiment for
determination of initial body composition and energy content, and further 30 rats were
divided into six groups of five rats each. Three groups were fed diets containing 10%
either corn oil, olive oil, or sheep tallow and served as controls. The remaining three
groups were fed high-fat diets containing 20% of either of the previous oils/fats and
served as experimental groups.
The results of the present study indicated that among high-fat groups, rats fed
corn oil or olive oil had significantly (p0.05), body weight gain (47.7 g), body fat content (10.9% ± 1.3), gain in body
energy (200.2 kcal ± 13.4), energy expenditure (2180.3 kcal ± 125.2) and energetic
efficiency (9.2% ±1.1). Pearson’s correlation coefficients revealed significant (P <
0.05) positive relations between body fat content and the following measures: body
weight gain (r = 0.50, P= 0.05), body energy content (r = 0.91, P