Yield, nutritional and medicinal properties of alfalfa

Abstract

The present study examines plant height, green forage (GF) and dry matter (DM) yields of 24 local alfalfa cultivars released over 1964 – 2007. The long-term research results suggest that alfalfa cultivars grown under different agroenvironmental conditions gave on average 65.6 t ha^-1 GF i.e. 15.3 t ha^-1 DM. The content of crude proteins was 162.2-223.8 g kg^-1 DM (199.6 g kg^-1 DM on average), that of crude fibres - 213-326 g kg^-1 DM (261.8 g kg^-1 DM on average), and NFE content - 315.3-427.5 g kg^-1 DM (392.0 g kg^-1 DM on average). Additionally, the study gives an overview of the chemical composition, nutritional value and amino acid composition of dry matter (4,136 samples) at different crude protein contents, vitamin content and quality of processed alfalfa products. It also outlines medicinal and prophylactic properties of alfalfa.