The Stability of Vitamins A and D in Mixed Feed Ingredients PART I I—VITAMIN A

WORK which has been reported on the stability of vitamin A shows that there is a substantial loss of this fac-tor in chick rations and feed ingredients when these are stored under ordinary con-ditions for various lengths of time. How-ever, there is considerable disagreement as to the amount of destruction or how rapid-ly such destruction takes place. Fraps and Treichler (1933) reported losses in vitamin A potency of 30-80 per-cent in 6 to 19 months in alfalfa leaf meal, dried black-eyed peas, dried green sweet peppers, yellow corn (whole or ground), and powdered whole milk. Kick and Bethke (1929) reported very little, if any, destruction of vitamin A in yellow corn (whole, cracked, or finely ground) when stored for one year. Record, Bethke, and Wilder (1937) stated there was a loss of vitamin A from cod liver oil and carotene from alfalfa leaf meal when mixed in a ration, but the de-struction was not complete even after a storage period of six months in a heated, well lighted room. Fraps and Kemmerer (1936) reported that the vitamin A in cod liver oil when mixed with feed was entirely destroyed in two weeks when stored at temperatures as low as 7°-9°C. Fraps and Kemmerer (1937) also reported that fish liver oils or concentrates, when added to finely divided feeds such as whit