Nutritional and mineral content of prickly pear cactus: A highly water-use efficient forage, fodder and food species

Mayer, JA, Cushman, JC. Nutritional and mineral content of prickly pear cactus: A highly water-use efficient forage, fodder and food species. J Agro Crop Sci. 2019; 205: 625– 634. https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.12353

Increased demand for food requires us to investigate livestock forage and fodder crops that can be grown over a wide range of locations where their cultivation will not compete with that of the food supply. A large portion of the southwestern United States consists of underutilized semi-arid land. Crops typically used for livestock fodder or forage have high-water demands that make them uneconomical or unsustainable for semi-arid and arid regions. The growth rate and low-input requirements of prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) make it an excellent candidate for forage or fodder supplementation or replacement in these regions. Previous reports about forage quality data on Opuntia have been scattered across multiple locations, growing conditions and cultivars. Here, we report on the forage quality and mineral content of Opuntia ficus-indica grown under both field and greenhouse conditions. Crude protein was 71 and 264 g/kg of dry mass for field and greenhouse conditions, respectively. Field-grown plants showed higher acid and neutral detergent fibre content than greenhouse-grown plants reflecting higher cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin accumulation. Nutritional values were also compared to requirements of cattle to determine what deficiencies might need to be addressed through supplementation. These data suggest that Opuntia can be used in combination with other feed sources to reduce the demand of resource-intensive forage crops for raising livestock in dryland areas.