Potential of Opuntia Ficus-Indica Cladodes In M’sila (North ALGERIA) as feed for ruminants: chemical composition and in vitro assessment

ABSTRACT

The main objective of the present study was to investigate a strategy to bioconverte spineless cactus Opuntia Ficus-Indica (O. ficus indica) Cladodes, Medicago sativa L. (M. sativa) and barley straw (H. vulgare) based on their chemical composition, in vitro digestibility and fermentation parameters. The CP ranged from 51.41 to 156.09 g/kg DM, which was especially high within M. sativa and low in H. vulgare. O. ficus indica had the highest values in free condensed tannins. The most digestible plant sample was that from M. sativa and O.ficus indica. The maximum in vitro gas production was recorded with M. sativa and H. vulgare. The same trend was observed with the total gas production (144 h). Based on the results, it can be concluded that O. ficus indica could replace common plant species, especially in the arid and semi-arid areas in which the livestock production section frequently suffers low efficiency and big losses.

KEYWORDS:

• In vitro gas production
• Opuntia ficus indica
• Rumen fermentation

Acknowledgements

Financial support received from the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific is gratefully acknowledged. The author is grateful to the Department de Production Animal, CSIC-Universidad de León, Spain, for accepting to perform all experiments there.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.