Effect of Species and Age on Nutrient Content and in vitro Digestibility of Opuntia spp.

Abstract

Pinos-Rodríguez, J.M., Duque-Briones, R., Reyes-Agüero, J.A., Aguirre-Rivera, J.R., García-López, J.C. and González-Muñoz, S. 2006. Effect of species and age on nutrient content and digestibility of Opuntia spp. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 30: 13–17. Proximal and cell wall analysis, as well as in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of Opuntia robusta, O. ficus-indica and O. rastrera (one, two and three years old cladodes) were performed in order to evaluate the effect of species and age on nutrients contents and dry matter digestibility. The Cp was higher (P<0.05) for O. ficus-indica and O. robusta than for O. rastrera, which showed the highest levels of ash. There were no differences (P>0.05) for NDF and ADF among the three species of cactus pear; besides, the age of the cladodes did not affect (P>0.05) the DM, Cp, ADF and ash content. IVDMD for O. ficus-indica and O. robusta was generally higher than that for O. rastrera. The one year old cladodes showed a higher (P<0.05) IVDMD up to 12 h of incubation. O. ficus-indica and O. robusta showed a higher (P<0.05) nutrients content than O. rastrera.