CALORIC AVAILABILITY OF SALATRIM IN RATS AND HUMANS

SALATRIM is a reduced-calorie fat substitute composed of structured triacylglycerols. These structured triacylglycerols are composed of long-chain fatty acids (predominantly stearic) and short-chain aliphatic acids (acetic, propionic, and/or butyric). It has been demonstrated in rat studies and in a clinical study that SALATRIM with various combinations of these aliphatic acid and fatty acid side chains delivers fewer calories per gram than conventional triacylglycerols such as corn oil. The reduced calories are accounted for by the lower caloric value of the short-chain aliphatic acids and limited absorption of the stearic acid which is freed by enzymatic hydrolysis in the gastrointestinal tract. In caloric availability studies with rats SALATRIM was found to deliver between 4.5 and 6.0 kcal/g. In the human clinical study between 27.6 and 36.5% of the stearic acid in SALATRIM was shown to be absorbed, resulting in an apparent caloric availability of between 4.7 and 5.1 kcal/g. Although subjects consuming SALATRIM exhibited an increased excretion of fecal fat and stearic acid, they did not excrete higher levels of calcium, magnesium, or zinc. These results show that SALATRIM exhibits similar caloric reduction in both rats and humans.