Lignocellulosic materials characterization of wild and cultivated cardoon

MANCINI, M.; LANZA VOLPE, M.; BADARACCO, P.; CRAVERO, V.

La Plata

Simposio; IX International Symposium on Artichoke, Cardoon and their wild relatives; 2015

ISHS

Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) is a perennial crop. The first productive cycle begins with seed germination, usually at the beginning of autumn. After the emergence of cotyledons, leaves start to develop forming a rosette (vegetative state). At the end of spring appears the floral scape, which ends in several heads (capitules). After flowering and pollination the fruits (achenes) are formed and the aerial biomass dries. This biomass could be used for multiple purpose such as obtaining biofuels, paper pulp production and fodder. The main objective of this work was to characterize the lignocellulosic material of different domesticated and wild cardoon accessions and determine its potential use as forage for animal feed. Twelve accessions, six belonging to wild and six to cultivated cardoon, were evaluated. The aboveground biomass was collected at the end of the productive cycle from 10 plants per accession. This material was submitted to a chemical analysis using Van Soest (structural carbohydrates) and Kjeldahl (nitrogen) methods. The theoretical digestibility (Van Soest summative equation) and the metabolizable energy (EM) were determined. An ANOVA was performed to detect differences between accessions and botanical varieties. Mean values were compared by Duncan?s test (p