The effect of dietary lipids on the lipid composition and the activities of some enzymes of cardiac sarcolemma were studied. Feeding rats coconut oil--rich diet for 4 weeks resulted in a significant decrease in 5'-nucleotidase, phosphodiesterase I and p-nitrophenylphosphatase activity of cardiac sarcolemma as compared with feeding rats safflower oil. Sarcolemma from animals fed coconut oil diet contained a significantly lower concentration of total polyunsaturated fatty acids and a higher concentration of total monounsaturated fatty acids than that from rats fed safflower oil. Most of the alterations in polyunsaturated fatty acids were found in 20:4, whereas those of the monounsaturates were found in 18:1. Among all the phosphoglycerides, the fatty acid composition of the phosphatidylcholine exhibited the largest alterations as a result of coconut oil feeding. No dietary effect was observed in the sarcolemma content of cholesterol and phospholipid. These studies clearly indicate that manipulation of dietary lipids influences both the fatty acid composition and some functional properties of the sarcolemma membranes.