There are three types of food that have the name ‘artichoke’ and of the three, the Jerusalem Artichoke is one of the more well-known.
Even thought the globe artichoke is considered to be the definitive artichoke, the Jerusalem artichoke is actually quite different from what the general perception of what an artichoke should be.
The Jerusalem artichoke is also called a topinambour, an earth apple, a sunchoke, or a sunroot and is a species of sunflower which is found in eastern North America from the south in Florida and Texas up through to eastern Canada.
It is a root vegetable and is mainly grown for its tuber.
With all this considered, can rabbits eat Jerusalem Artichokes and if they can, how much of it can be eaten by them?
Looking at its nutritional data wil reveal more of its content so we can make a better decision about this vegetable.
As per usual, its starch, sugar, fat, phosophorus, acidic and calcium content is of most interest to us. Plus it would be helpful if it had a decent amount of fiber in it.
Energy
304 kJ (73 kcal)
Carbohydrates
17.44 g
Sugars 9.6 g
Dietary fiber 1.6 g
Fat 0.01 g
Protein 2 g
Vitamins
Thiamine (B1) (17%) 0.2 mg
Riboflavin (B2) (5%) 0.06 mg
Niacin (B3) (9%) 1.3 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5) (8%) 0.397 mg
Vitamin B6 (6%) 0.077 mg
Folate (B9) (3%) 13 μg
Vitamin C (5%) 4 mg
Trace metals
Calcium (1%) 14 mg
Iron (26%) 3.4 mg
Magnesium (5%) 17 mg
Phosphorus (11%) 78 mg
Potassium (9%)
source wikipedia
As you can see Jerusalem artichokes are high in Phosphorus and are very acidic and sugar. This makes them pretty bad for rabbits and definitely a food that they shouldn’t be eating.
There are far better foods for them to eat and enjoy. If they do happen to eat some of it, then it wont harm them at all but it is not a good idea to feed it to them purposely on an ongoing basis.