Preserving Mashed Cactus Pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) Fruit with Wheat Straw, Maize Hay or Lucerne Hay

Spineless cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) fruit is produced seasonal, yielding large quantities of fruit in a short period of about two months. Unless kept in cold storage, cactus pear fruit cannot be stored for a long period, therefore, the possibility of preserving mashed fruit for longer periods on hay and straw as preserved high moisture livestock feed was studied. As part of the multipurpose utilisation of the cactus pear, the seeds are separated from the fruit pulp and the seed oil extruded. On 2 February 2012 cactus pear fruit was mashed in a large blender which is designed to mash large volumes of cactus pear fruit. Water was added to the fruit during mashing and the seeds removed by centrifugal force. Diluted (Dm) mashed fruit was added by weight (5:1) in duplicate in large plastic bags to coarsely ground wheat straw, maize hay or lucerne hay, mixed and the bags tightly closed with baling twine to prevent spoiling by excluding air. As additional treatments, undiluted (Um) mashed fruit was also added by weight (5:1) in duplicate to the straw and hay. The bags were stored for nine months in household plastic refuge drums. On 22 November 2012 the bags were weighed, opened and the pH of the kuilmoes (derived from the words "kuilvoer" for silage and "moes" for mashed fruit in Afrikaans) was recorded. The samples were well preserved and the pH of the kuilmoes containing undiluted (Um) mashed fruit was statistically (P<0.05) lower (3.72 +/- 0.1) than the treatments containing diluted (Dm) mashed fruit (3.93 +/- 0.1). The kuilmoes was then first dried at 50 degrees C for a few days and for another 24 h at 60 degrees C in a large draught oven, ground to pass a 1 mm sieve and stored for analysis. Results pertaining to the organic matter, crude protein, acid-detergent fibre, neutral-detergent fibre and fat contents of the kuilmoes and the changes affected by preserving it as kuilmoes with undiluted (Um) or diluted (Dm) mashed cactus pear fruit, are discussed.