503. The properties of New Zealand butters and butterfats: III. Seasonal variations in the nature of the unsaturated acids of butterfat as estimated by spectrophotometric methods

Abstract

Variations in the unsaturated acid constituents of butterfat samples from the Manawatu district of the North Island of New Zealand over the months October to April were studied by the spectrophotometric technique, applied both before and after alkali isomerization of the fat.The seasonal variations in the iodine values of the butterfats were found to be closely related to the changes in oleic acid content. Conjugated dienoic acids, though present in relatively small amounts, showed a somewhat similar seasonal trend in values to oleic acid. The results for percentage content of non-conjugated dienoic acids were low, and they fluctuated considerably from month to month. Conjugated trienoic and tetraenoic acids were absent or present only in traces. Small but fairly consistent quantities of nonconjugated trienoic and tetraenoic acids were found in all samples.