Has anyone fed figs, fig leaves, or branches to their rabbits? I just pruned the fig tree behind my bunnybarn because it was invading my limited space, and the leaves look positively delicious... the grape vines are looking pretty tasty too. I assume grape is safe, since the leaves are used in some dishes for human consumption.
Searched fig toxicity and found this interesting info...
Food Uses
Some people peel the skin back from the stem end to expose the flesh for eating out of-hand. The more fastidious eater holds the fruit by the stem end, cuts the fruit into quarters from the apex, spreads the sections apart and lifts the flesh from the skin with a knife blade, discarding the stem and skin. Commercially, figs are peeled by immersion for 1 minute in boiling lye water or a boiling solution of sodium bicarbonate. In warm, humid climates, figs are generally eaten fresh and raw without peeling, and they are often served with cream and sugar. Peeled or unpeeled, the fruits may be merely stewed or cooked in various ways, as in pies, puddings, cakes, bread or other bakery products, or added to ice cream mix. Home owners preserve the whole fruits in sugar sirup or prepare them as jam, marmalade, or paste. Fig paste (with added wheat and corn flour, whey, sirup, oils and other ingredients) forms the filling for the well known bakery product, "Fig Newton". The fruits are sometimes candied whole commercially. In Europe; western Asia, northern Africa and California, commercial canning and drying of figs are industries of great importance.
Some drying is done in Poona, India, and there is currently interest in solar-drying in Guatemala. Usually, the fruits are allowed to fully ripen and partially dehydrate on the tree, then are exposed to sulphur fumes for about a half hour, placed out in the sun and turned daily to achieve uniform drying, and pressed flat during the 5- to 7-day process. 'Black Mission' and 'Kadota' figs are suitable for freezing whole in sirup, or sliced and layered with sugar.
Dried cull figs have been roasted and ground as a coffee substitute. In Mediterranean countries, low-grade figs are converted into alcohol. An alcoholic extract of dried figs has been used as a flavoring for liqueurs and tobacco.
Toxicity
The latex of the unripe fruits and of any part of the tree may be severely irritating to the skin if not removed promptly. It is an occupational hazard not only to fig harvesters and packers but also to workers in food industries, and to those who employ the latex to treat skin diseases.
Other Uses
Seed oil: Dried seeds contain 30% of a fixed oil containing the fatty acids: oleic, 18.99%; linoleic, 33.72%; linolenic, 32.95%; palmitic, 5.23%; stearic, 2.1 8%; arachidic, 1.05%. It is an edible oil and can be used as a lubricant.
Leaves: Fig leaves are used for fodder in India. They are plucked after the fruit harvest. Analyses show: moisture, 67.6%; protein, 4.3%; fat, 1.7%; crude fiber, 4.7%; ash, 5.3%; N-free extract, 16.4%; pentosans, 3.6%; carotene on a dry weight basis, 0.002%. Also present are bergaptene, stigmasterol, sitosterol, and tyrosine.
In southern France, there is some use of fig leaves as a source of perfume material called "fig-leaf absolute"—a dark-green to brownish-green, semi-solid mass or thick liquid of herbaceous-woody-mossy odor, employed in creating woodland scents.
Latex: The latex contains caoutchouc (2.4%), resin, albumin, cerin, sugar and malic acid, rennin, proteolytic enzymes, diastase, esterase, lipase, catalase, and peroxidase. It is collected at its peak of activity in early morning, dried and powdered for use in coagulating milk to make cheese and junket. From it can be isolated the protein-digesting enzyme ficin which is used for tenderizing meat, rendering fat, and clarifying beverages.
In tropical America, the latex is often used for washing dishes, pots and pans. It was an ingredient in some of the early commercial detergents for household use but was abandoned after many reports of irritated or inflamed hands in housewives.
Medicinal Uses: The latex is widely applied on warts, skin ulcers and sores, and taken as a purgative and vermifuge, but with considerable risk. In Latin America, figs are much employed as folk remedies. A decoction of the fruits is gargled to relieve sore throat; figs boiled in milk are repeatedly packed against swollen gums; the fruits are much used as poultices on tumors and other abnormal growths. The leaf decoction is taken as a remedy for diabetes and calcifications in the kidneys and liver. Fresh and dried figs have long been appreciated for their laxative action.
Food Value Per 100 g of Edible Portion*
Fresh Dried
Calories 80 274
Moisture 77.5-86.8g 23.0g
Protein 1.2-1.3g 4.3g
Fat 0.14-0.30g 1.3g
Carbohydrates 17.1-20.3g 69.1g
Fiber 1.2-2.2 g 5.6 g
Ash 0.48 0.85 g 2.3 g
Calcium 35-78.2 mg 126 mg
Phosphorus 22-32.9 mg 77 mg
Iron 0.6-4.09 mg 3.0 mg
Sodium 2.0 mg 34 mg
Potassium 194 mg 640 mg
Carotene 0.013-0.195 mg —
as Vitamin A 20-270 I.U. 80 I.U.
Thiamine 0.034-0.06 mg 0.10 mg
Riboflavin 0.053-0.079 mg 0.10 mg
Niacin 0.32-0.412 mg 0.7 mg
Ascorbic Acid 12.2-17.6 mg 0 mg
Citric Acid 0.10-0.44 mg
Note: There are small amounts of malic, boric and oxalic acids.
