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Feeding the team: Analysis of a Spratt’s dog cake from Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2021

Sara J. Fraser-Miller ,
Jeremy S. Rooney ,
Keith C. Gordon ,
Craig R. Bunt Open the ORCID record for Craig R. Bunt [Opens in a new window]  and
Jill M. Haley
Sara J. Fraser-Miller
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Jeremy S. Rooney
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Keith C. Gordon
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Craig R. Bunt
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand
Jill M. Haley*
Affiliation:
Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand
*
Author for correspondence: Jill M. Haley, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The use of Spratt’s dog cakes is well documented in the diaries and reminiscences of many early Antarctic expedition members. Commercially produced dog food was promoted by the likes of Spratt’s as an advanced form of animal nutrition and would have been of interest to expedition planners who were already concerned with the nutritional requirements of expedition members. An approximately 100-year-old dog cake recovered from Antarctica was compared by chemical analysis and spectroscopic methods with a series of model dog cakes and a commercial dog biscuit to determine the composition and calorific content. The presence of bone fragments within the dog cake was confirmed, whereas starch in the bulk matrix of the sample was consistent with being a mixture of wheat and oat flour, while only minimal fat or oil was present. Calorific content, while insufficient compared to a modern feed for high-performance dogs, would nonetheless have been a valuable addition to the use of dried or frozen whole meat such as seal, fish, or pemmican and contributed additional energy compared to meat alone.

Keywords

Dog cakeSpratt’sSpectroscopic analysis
Type
Research Note
Information
Polar Record , Volume 57 , 2021 , e19
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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