Spineless cactus for ruminant feed

Abstract

The different species and varieties of spineless cactus constitute a food resource used in the several arid and semi-arid regions of the world. The nutritive value of this forage plant oscillates due to a series of adaptive factors attributed to aridity, and phenotypic differences between the species, varieties or clones of the plant, fertilization and cropping practices, age, cladodes and time of storage can be highlighted. cutting, among other aspects, that together will have different implications in animal nutrition. Spineless cactus has a high acceptability for ruminants and large quantities can be voluntarily consumed, as all species of palm have high digestibility of dry matter, however due to several factors that lead to differences in chemical and anatomical composition, there may be variation to feed intake, digestibility and utilization of its nutrients. Thus, the objective of this work was to discuss the use of spineless cactus genotypes in the feeding of ruminant animals.