can guinea pigs eat globe artichokes

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Globe Artichokes?

Did you know that there are three different plants all known as artichokes?

One is called the globe artichoke. It is related to the thistle and has edible leaves along with the bottom of the flower called the heart.

Another is called the Jerusalem artichoke which belongs to the sunflower family. Its underground tubers are the edible part and has a sweet and nutty taste.

The third type of artichoke is the Chinese artichoke. This is a perennial herb related to mint and is cultivated for its edible tuberous underground stems.This one is much more difficult to find in stores than the other two and has a sweet and nutty taste like the Jerusalem artichoke.

In this post, we’re looking at Globe artichokes. So lets dig a little deeper and find out about them.

They are not conntected at all to the other two artichokes, only by name only.

can guinea pigs eat globe artichokes

The globe artichoke is considered to be the ‘true’ artichoke of the three.

The edible parts, as mentioned above are the tender ends of the leaves and the heart. The rest of the globe artichoke is not edible at all.

So can guinea pigs eat globe artichokes?

As we’re into good guinea pig care here, lets dig a little deeper and find out a bit more about it.

Energy 211 kJ (50 kcal)
Carbohydrates 11.39 g
– Sugars 0.99 g
– Dietary fiber 8.6 g
Fat 0.34 g
Protein 2.89 g
– lutein and zeaxanthin 464 μg
Thiamine (vit. B1) 0.05 mg (4%)
Riboflavin (vit. B2) 0.089 mg (7%)
Niacin (vit. B3) 1.11 mg (7%)
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.24 mg (5%)
Vitamin B6 0.081 mg (6%)
Folate (vit. B9) 89 μg (22%)
Vitamin C 7.4 mg (9%)
Vitamin E 0.19 mg (1%)
Vitamin K 14.8 μg (14%)
Calcium 21 mg (2%)
Iron 0.61 mg (5%)
Magnesium 42 mg (12%)
Manganese 0.225 mg (11%)
Phosphorus 73 mg (10%)
Potassium 286 mg (6%)
Sodium 296 mg (20%)
Zinc 0.4 mg (4%)

(source: wikipedia)

Although their vitamin c content is not that high, it is still quite reasonable. They are quite high in phosphorus and are quite acidic in nature

They are a little acidic so they aren’t a veggie to be fed to them every day, in fact once or twice a week at the most would suffice in small amounts.

Just make sure that you only feed them the feed your guinea pigs the lighter-green and white leaves and cut off the pointy ends.

Check out the other types of Artichoke, the Jerusalem Artichoke and the Chinese Artichoke.

 

For more foods that guinea pigs can and can’t eat, check out our guinea pig foods section here.

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