Genetic potential of wild birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) seeds collected from different geographical locations regarding to nutrient composition and nutritive value
To investigate the effects of seed origin on
the nutrient content and nutritive value of birdsfoot
trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), seeds of wild birdsfoot
trefoil (WBT) communities were collected from plants
spontaneously occurring in pasture, rangelands and
silvopastoral areas located at four altitudes, two
latitudes and eight longitudes ranges of the Black
Sea Region, Turkey. The relative feed value (RFV)
and metabolizable energy (ME), crude protein (CP),
neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber
(ADF), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium
(Mg), potassium (K) and condensed tannins (CT)
contents, K/(Ca ? Mg) and Ca/P ratios of 126 populations
from these seeds collected from different
locations and grown under the same climatic conditions
were determined. Altitude was significantly
correlated with the abundance of WBT (r2 = 0.71).
The abundance of population (percentage of WBT
populations) in the silvopastoral areas (58.4 %) was
higher than that in upland (5.6 %), pasture (16.7 %)
and rangeland (19.3 %). The ME, RFV and ADF,
NDF, P, K and CT contents of populations were not
influenced by altitudinal and geographical gradients.
There were obvious effects of altitude on Ca and Mg,
of latitude on Ca and of longitude on CP, Ca and Mg,
and also on Ca/P and K/(Ca ? Mg) ratios. This study
provided information on genetic potentials of WBT
populations in terms of nutritional properties. The
results indicated that seeds selected from the populations
that have high feed value can be used to improve
the studied areas or artificial pasture and agroforest
landscapes