Abstract
Cactus pear is a widely cultivated plant in the Brazilian semiarid region that contributes significantly to the feeding of livestock, especially in times of drought. Because it has a great phenotypic variability among the varieties cultivated in Brazil, there is need to characterize the diversity of chemical and nutritional characteristics. The objectives of this study were to characterize the diversity in seven varieties of cactus pear, genera Opuntia and Nopalea, through 20 chemical and nutritional characteristics, and to determine the correlation and importance of these characteristics in the variability among genotypes, using multivariate analysis techniques. The study was conducted at the IPA (disambiguation) experimental station in Arcoverde-PE, using randomly designed blocks with three replications. The materials IPA-100003, IPA-200016, IPA-200008, IPA-100004, IPA-200021, IPA-200205 and IPA-200149 were evaluated for 20 quantitative characteristics of the plants. The collected data were analyzed by analysis of variance by F test and means grouped by the Scott-Knott test (p < 0.05). The broad-sense heritability and correlation among characteristics were estimated. The diversity was estimated by multivariate methods. Analyses of variance and diversity revealed significant differences among genotypes, with the possible formation of three or four genetically distinct groups. The heritability values ranged from 78.04 to 99.99%. The content of flavonoids and potassium were the characteristics that contributed most to the divergence among the materials. These characteristics are significantly correlated with the nitrogen-free extract and phenolic compounds. The confirmation of variability among the cactus pear varieties studied serves as potential materials in breeding programs. Multivariate analysis techniques are effective in the study of diversity of species of the genera Opuntia and Nopalea. Key words: Brazilian semiarid region, characterization of forage, food analysis, genetic distance, grouping, multivariate analysis.
Highlights
Cactus pear (Opuntia spp. and Nopalea spp.) is native in tropical and subtropical America, but currently is in a wide range of soil and climatic conditions in all continents (America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania), both in cultivated and wild forms
The analysis of variance by F test (p ≤ 0.01) showed significant differences in the content of phenolic compounds (PC), total flavonoid (FLAV), anthocyanins (ANT), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), sulfur (S), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), total protein (TP), ether extract (EE), nitrogen-free extract (NFE), and p ≤ 0, 05 for the nitrogen content (N), which confirms a variability among the varieties of cactus pear to most chemical and nutritional characteristics
There were no significant differences in the content of magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), manganese (Mn), dry matter (DM), mineral matter (MM) and crude fiber (CF) in the plants (Table 2)
Summary
Cactus pear (Opuntia spp. and Nopalea spp.) is native in tropical and subtropical America, but currently is in a wide range of soil and climatic conditions in all continents (America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania), both in cultivated and wild forms. These plants are used in these countries for various purposes: production of fruits and vegetables for human consumption; fodder for animal feed; soil conservation; biomass for energy (biogas and ethanol); production of cochineal for carmine production; and numerous by-products, such as drinks, vegetarian cheese, medicines and cosmetics (Dubeux-Junior et al, 2013). Many areas in the region are salinized (> 4, 0 dS.m-1) (Araújo et al, 2005; Dubeux-Junior et al, 2013)
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