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Utilización de la chumbera (Opuntia ficus-indica) en alimentación animal
... Nutrient content of Opuntia spp. depends on the genetic characteristics of the species or clones, the cladode's age, the cladode sampling location, the pad harvesting season and the growing conditions, such as soil fertility and climate (Monjauze and Le Houérou, 1965;Boza et al., 1995;Nefzaoui and Ben Salem, 2001;Gugliuzza et al., 2002). Typical range in values for nutritional parameters of Opuntia spp. ...
... has been reported by Flachowsky and Yami (1985), Silva (1987), Robles Cruz and Boza López (1993), Felker (1995), Le Houérou (1996, Mohamed-Yasseen et al. (1996), Fuentes-Rodríguez (1997), Azócar (2001), López-García et al. (2001), Nefzaoui and Ben Salem (2001) and Arias et al. (2003) among others. Several studies have been conducted to assess the nutrient content of Opuntia species or clones as a function of cladode age (Monjauze and Le Houérou, 1965;Gregory and Felker, 1992;Boza et al., 1995;Nefzaoui and Ben Salem, 2001). Our previous study (Guevara et al., 2000) reported data on crude protein content of the terminal cladodes (about one-year old) for four Opuntia clones. ...
... For all age classes pooled, our O. ficus-indica clones had IVOMD ranges from 69.5% (clone SR) to 81.8% (clone SJ) (Table 3), values comparable with those reported for the same species in other studies: 70.9% (Flachowsky and Yami, 1985) and 82.3% (Azócar, 2001). In contrast, percent IVOMD higher than those found in our study was measured for O. ficus-indica: 85.7% (Silva, 1987), 89.7% (Robles Cruz and Boza López, 1993), 85.7% (Boza et al., 1995), and 89.4% (Arias et al., 2003). ...
Variations in organic matter (OM), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), and dry matter (DM) with cladode age were examined for seven Opuntia forage clones. The nutritional parameters were measured for three age classes. Data were analysed using ANOVA, linear regression analysis and principal components analysis. For all age classes combined, clones showed high OM (81.6% to 86.8% DM), and IVOMD (69.5% to 82.1%) and low protein content (3.2% to 5.0% DM). They had from 22.7% to 27.1% NDF, and from 12.0% to 16.0% ADF (dry-weight basis); DM ranged from 7.3% to 11.5%. A significant (p
... There is considerable variation in nutritional quality of Opuntia forage for various species or clones, growing conditions, and cladode ages (Monjauze and Le Houérou, 1965;Silva, 1987;Gregory and Felker, 1992;Boza et al., 1995;Fuentes-Rodríguez, 1997;Guevara et al., 2000). This fact complicates direct comparisons of our results with other studies. ...
... The IVDMD was high and similar to the overall value reported by Felker (1995) for Opuntias. Ash and organic-matter contents were comparable to those found by Boza et al. (1995) for 1-year-growth-period cladodes of O. ficus-indica. ...
Cold damage of Opuntia ellisiana plants obtained by micropropagation was estimated visually after 1- and 2-year growth periods in field conditions. Additionally, the effect of irrigation on above-ground biomass production was evaluated after a 2-year growth period and some parameters related to the nutritional quality of 1-year-growth-period cladodes were determined. Frost damage was estimated visually. Above-ground biomass and stem-area index (SAI) were estimated by regression techniques. One-year-growth plants suffered no frost damage when temperatures dropped to -15°C on two occasions in the winter of 2000. Frost damage reached only 0.9% in 2-year-growth-period plants after freezes of - 14.5°C and -13.7°C in the winter of 2001. Irrigation did not have a significant effect on above-ground biomass production. Mean biomass reached 170 kg DM ha-1 after the 2-year growth period. This low production could be explained mainly by the small size of the plant material used for establishing the plantation and the low SAI after the 2-year growth period (0.03). Cladodes of O. ellisiana exhibited crude protein and organic-matter contents of 5.8% and 82.7%, respectively, and an in vitro dry-matter digestibility of 78.3%. Plants of O. ellisiana obtained by micropropagation appear to be tolerant to freezing temperatures attained in areas with extremely cold winters.
... En estos mismos ambientes, hay que indicar la importancia que tiene como forrajera la especie, no nativa, Opuntia ficus-indica, que en la mayoría de los casos se ha naturalizado y se integra con las otras especies del monte. Según Azócar (2001) el rendimiento potencial de forraje de un chumberal cultivado en zonas áridas, bajo un manejo adecuado, es de 5 a 10 toneladas/ha de forraje (materia seca), a esto hay que unir su valor como alimento para pequeños rumiantes (Boza et al., 1995): se trata de un recurso muy rico en agua (92,1%) y en carbohidratos (68,6% de la materia seca), con una digestibilidad en caprinos de la materia orgánica del 55,7%, y una energía metabolizable de 7,9 MJ/kg de materia seca. ...
... The nutrient content of Opuntia spp. depends on many factors such as the age of the cladode, the age of the plant, the number of fruit per cladode and the fertilization program (Monjauze and Le Houérou, 1965;Boza et al., 1995;Nefzaoui and Ben Salem, 2001;Gugliuzza et al., 2002). The crude protein (CP) content of seven Opuntia forage clones was 4.8, 3.9, and 3.3% DM for cladodes of 1, 2 and 3 years of age, respectively (Guevara et al., 2004). ...
The specialized photosynthetic system, Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) in cactus that provides several fold greater conversion of water to dry matter (DM) than grasses and broadleaf plants makes them especially suited for forage production in arid lands. Unfortunately the spineless fast growing Opuntia ficus−indica, that is widely used for forage in Brazil, North Africa and Mexico, is poorly adapted to regions outside the tropics due to lack of tolerance to freezing weather. To overcome this limitation, a wide interspecific cross was made between a fast growing, spineless, frost sensitive O. ficus−indica and spiny, cold tolerant, slow growing Texas native O. lindheimerii with the objective of combining the high productivity and spinelessness of the O. ficus−indica parent with the cold hardiness of the Texas native parent. The first part of this work compared 10 spineless progeny of this cross to the most cold hardy spineless forage species to date, i.e. O. ellisiana for forage production and crude protein (CP) content in Mendoza, Argentina (520 m elevation and 33º S latitude), where O. ficus−indica does not survive winters. Some of these progeny had 5 times greater productivity than O. ellisiana with equivalent cold tolerance. As previous Argentine Opuntia productivity trials were N limited, the responsiveness of these progeny to 3 rates of N fertilization was examined. It was found that N application stimulated about a 4 fold increases in dry biomass per plant compared to the treatment in which N was not added (12.7 and 3.2 kg DM plant−1, respectively) and an almost doubling in CP content of the 1−year−old cladodes (7.8 and 4.3% DM, respectively). None of the CP concentrations were high enough to meet the requirements of a 400−kg live weight lactating cow (10%), but the dose/N response did not appear to have reached a plateau. To determine the productivity per unit area, one trial with clone 42 was established. This clone produced a biomass of 40 t DM ha−1 in 4 years with a total of 625 mm rainfall. This is the greatest DM production recorded to date for such a low rainfall. This DM production corresponds to a carrying capacity of 0.76 Animal Unit (AU) ha−1. Future trials with the most productive and cold hardy of these spineless hybrid progeny, in combination with higher N fertilization levels that can meet lactating cow requirements are needed in additional test sites with more severe freezing weather regimes. Also, would be important to compare different ways to capture fertilizers such as to apply frequent, low application rates instead of an annual application as we done in the present study, taken into account the characteristics of the root mass of Opuntia. Other interesting alternative to prove for reducing the use of N−fertilizer could be to test if endophytic nitrogen−fixing bacteria such as Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus fixes N with Opuntia.
... Nutrient content of Opuntia spp. depends on the genetic characteristics of the species or clones, the cladode's age, the cladode sampling location, the cladode harvesting season, and the growing conditions, such as soil fertility and climate (Monjauze and Le Houérou 1965;Boza et al. 1995;Nefzaoui and Ben Salem 2001;Gugliuzza et al. 2002;Guevara et al. 2006). Opuntia ficus-indica was high in calcium (Ca), normal in magnesium (Mg), and low in sodium (Na), potassium (K), and P contents in relation to ruminant requirements from a diet, and similar to common temperate or tropical grasses and legumes (Tegegne 2001). ...
This paper reports recent findings in Opuntia genetics, nutrient fertilization, and cultivation with promise to overcome limitations for Opuntia-based forage production systems. The essentially spineless, fast-growing Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. has been planted on millions of hectares for forage in tropical areas of Brazil and North Africa. The spiny, cold-hardy Opuntia species have been used for forage in Mexico and the southwestern United States, after the cladodes have been chopped or singed to remove the spines. Due to the recent increases in fuel prices, burning of the spines is more costly. Where only spiny varieties exist, some range animals forage on them without manipulation. As a result, spines frequently penetrate and form lesions on mouth and esophageal tissues, leading to serious health issues. Slow growth and low protein (ca. 5%) of the native Opuntia spiny species on nonfertilized rangeland is an impediment to greater use of Opuntia for forage. The only spineless species adaptable to US Department of Agriculture cold hardiness zones < 8 (i.e., Opuntia ellisiana Griffiths) is relatively slow growing. Full sibling crosses indicate spine heritability is probably single-gene controlled. Interspecific hybrids between the frost-sensitive, fast-growing, and spineless O. ficus-indica with cold-hardy, spiny, slower-growing O. lindheimerii Engelm. have produced spineless progeny, with greater cold hardiness than O. ficus-indica, and greater productivity than cold-hardy, spineless O. ellisiana. Nitrogen limitations on water-use efficiency of Opuntia have been overcome for the 120 million ha of semiarid northeastern Brazil with added nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization. With control of competing vegetation and fertilization, this system has 40 t dry matter · ha−1 of 9.2% crude protein forage with 600 mm rainfall in 16 mo. Opuntia ficus-indica plantations were profitable even though a duplication of fertilizer current prices was considered.
The purpose of this study was to determine the chemical composition and gross energy of Opuntia cactus (Opuntia ficus indica). The chemical composition of the cactus in different years (1, 2 and 3 years) including Dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), Ash, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and gross energy (GE) in 3 replicates were determined using standard methods. The DM persentages were not significantly different between years (one, two and three years old cactuses, 96.90, 95.79 and 95.91%, respectively). The OM persentages of three years old cactus (68.45%) decreased significantly compared to the two years old cactus (72.20%) and one year old cactus (73.72%). The CP persentages (one, two and three years old cactuses, 5.21, 4.25 and 4.36%, respectively) and EE (one year old, two years old and three years old cactuses, 1.23, 1.39 and 1.16%, respectively) in different years did not show any significant differences. The NDF and ADF persentages of one, two and three years old cactuses (9.91, 14.97, 16.40 and 5.19, 8.27 and 10.84%, respectively) showed significant different. The GE content (cal/g) of one year old (2735.89) compared to the two years old (2896.36) and three years old (2192.45) were significantly different. Totally, the results showed that the CP content of cactus is to the extent wheat straw, due to the high gross energy content of cactus, this forage could be used as a source of energy for livestock
in combination with low quality fodder, such as wheat straw.
Malate dehydrogenase (MDH) isozymes were used as biochemical markers to discriminate and cluster cladophylls of plants of one clonal population of the prickly pear, Opuntia ficus-indica (Cactaceae). The isozyme electrophoretic patterns obtained with MDH provided 8 isozymes and 5 different electrophoretic phenotypes. Similarity in cladophylls was estimated using Jaccard's coefficient. This clonal population studied was founded by only one propagule, and after 50 years, it is likely to have been formed by asexual and sexual propagules. Since that differential expression of MDH isozymes could play a significant role in overall plant cell metabolism, we suggest that the cladophylls of prickly pear that were clustered together showing identity or higher similarity are specially a suitable source for industrial procedures of industrial extraction of commercial interest compounds because a same extraction protocols can be most quickly and easily standardized using genetically uniform materials. Electrophoretic patterns of MDH isozymes can be used as an effective tool for previously determine the genetic similarity in the cladophylls of O. ficus-indica plants.
Two experiments have been carried out to study the effect of nitrogen supplementation on the nutritive value of spineless cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica f. inermis) based diets. In experiment 1, 18 Barbarine lambs were divided into three equal group and given freshly cut pads of cactus ad libitum. Each group was supplemented with either barley straw (600 g) (C+US), urea-treated barley straw (600 g) (C+UTS) or a mixture of barley straw (600 g) and fresh foliage of Atriplex nummularia L. (400 g) (C+A). A fourth group of six lambs received a common diet including barley straw ad libitum and a mixture of barley grain and wheat bran (400 g, 50:50) (US+BW). In the experiment 2, five groups of six Barbarine lambs receiving fresh pads of cactus and barley straw both ad libitum were supplemented or not (C) with either 10 g urea (CU), 200 g soybean as it is (CS), treated with formaldehyde (CSF), or supplemented with 100 g (CSA100) or 200 g (CSA200) of air-dried Acacia cyanophylla Lindl. foliage. In both experiments, a growth trial (60 days) followed by a total faecal collection trial (8 days) were performed. Atriplex, soluble nitrogen rich shrub, was more effective in improving diet digestibility and average daily gain than urea-treated straw (experiment 1). In both experiments, urea and atriplex had no effect on cactus intake. By contrast, soybean meal proteins increased significantly cactus intake, apparent diet digestibility and sheep growth. These positive effects were substantiated when sheep were offered a small amount (100 g) of acacia foliage, a source of condensed tannins, and 200 g of soybean meal. It was therefore concluded, that dietary proteins rather than non protein nitrogen improved the nutritive value of cactus-based diets and lamb growth, and acacia condensed tannins supplied in a fixed amount seem to increase the level of bypass proteins. It is also worth to note that cactus may overcome watering problem for sheep in arid zones.
The economic feasibility of Atriplex nummularia Lindl. and spineless cactus (Opuntia spp.) plantations for supplementing goats in the north-eastern plain of Mendoza (mean annual rainfall = 175 mm) during the fall–winter period was examined by a simulation model. It was run with 50–200 goats and annual rainfall probability (p;10–90% probability of occurrence). Cactus production was estimated from a rain-use efficiency factor of 12·5 kg DM ha−1 year−1 mm−1 and the annual rainfall probabilities in the area. Saltbush production (1·88 t DM ha−1year−1) was assumed not to be affected by annual rainfall thanks to the presence of a, 5–10 m deep, moderately saline water table (3·5–5·0 dSm−1). A decrease in goat mortality and an additional number of kids per goat were considered as annual benefits derived from supplementing the goat diet. The establishment cost (US$ ha−1) ranged from 812 (50 goats;p0·1 ) to 317 (200 goats; p0·9) for cacti plantations and from 691 (50 goats) to 378 (200 goats) for saltbush plantations, amounts that not all stockmen could afford. The cost of metallic fence installation was the main item of establishment cost for both shrubs. The nutrient costs for shrub production were lower than those for alfalfa hay, the conventional feed used by stockmen. A decrease in doe mortality from 10% to 2% and an increase in annual kid crop ranges from 0·17 to 0·32 would economically justify shrub plantations for stockmen having more than 50 goats at annual rainfall probabilities from p0·1 to p0·8. Limitations of the modelling effort and the feasibility of using the model in other areas of the world were stated.
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