NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND FERMENTATION CHARACTERISTICS OF PRICKLY PEAR SILAGE AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DRY MATTER - H. Mciteka1, H. J. van der Merwe2  & P. G. Marais3

1ARC, Middelburg (EC) 5900, South Africa 2Department of Animal, Wildlife & Grassland Science, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa 3Grootfontein ADI, Middelburg (EC) 5900, South Africa

Prickly pear and other cactus plants possess the remarkable quality of being able to take up and store water within a reasonably short time. These plants are then able to survive with very little rain for long periods. The aim of this study was to determine the nutritional value and fermentation characteristic of prickly pear silage at different levels of dry matter (DM) with the inclusion of molasses. One year old Fusicaulis leaves were randomly selected from different plants after pruning, samples for analysis were taken and the leaves were cut into 2cm pieces and sun-dried to four levels of DM (10%, 20%, 30%, 40%). At each level of DM, four levels of molasses were added (0%, 8%, 16%, 24%). For each treatment, six-replicates were used. Three kilograms of each mixture was put into 3L plastic bottles, weighed and air-tightly sealed. Ninety-six silo bottles were kept at a room temperature. At the end of the ensiling period of 3 months, the final weight of each bottle was taken and samples were taken for analysis of pH, volatile acetic acid (VAA) and water soluble carbohydrates (WSC). The results indicated that the pH increased (5.32 to 7.63) as the levels of DM and molasses increased. VAA increased (1.69 to 3.61) as the DM levels increased with no molasses included, but as the levels of molasses increased, there were no change in VAA content. WSC decreased (4.8 to 1.4) as the levels of DM and molasses increased. It can be concluded that VAA increased as the level of DM increased and the inclusion of molasses has no effect on VAA content.