Premium
Fatty acid profile in two berseem clover ( Trifolium alexandrinum L.) cultivars: Preliminary study of the effect of part of plant and phenological stage
Author(s) -
Cabiddu Andrea,
Wencelová Monica,
Bomboi Giovanni,
Decandia Mauro,
Molle Giovanni,
Salis Lorenzo
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
grassland science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.388
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1744-697X
pISSN - 1744-6961
DOI - 10.1111/grs.12159
Subject(s) - trifolium alexandrinum , cultivar , polyunsaturated fatty acid , forage , biology , fatty acid , pasture , dry matter , randomized block design , phenology , agronomy , biochemistry
Grazing animals have diets rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids ( PUFA ), in particular α ‐linolenic acid (C18:3n‐3), so pasture is the richest and most environmentally sustainable source of unsaturated fatty acids for animal products. The concentration of PUFA in forages varies with species, cultivar, phenological stage, silage making technique, regrowth interval, nitrogen fertilization level and other management factors. An experiment was carried out by a randomized block design with three replicates, to study the influence of part of plant and phenological stage on the fatty acid profile of two widespread berseem clover cultivars ( Trifolium alexandrinum L. ‘Sacromonte’ and ‘Marmilla’). In the present study, ‘Sacromonte’ showed a higher proportion of leaves (94 vs 85% on a dry matter yield [ DM ] basis; P < 0.05) and lower proportion of stems (6 vs 15% on a DM basis; P < 0.05) if compared with ‘Marmilla’ during the vegetative stage. Leaves were characterized by higher levels of monounsaturated fatty acids (0.50 vs 0.23 mg g −1 DM ) and PUFA (10.33 vs 3.84 mg g −1 DM ) if compared to stems ( P < 0.01) in both cultivars. Total unsaturated fatty acids represent 10.83 and 4.04 mg g −1 DM in leaves and stems, respectively ( P < 0.01). No influence of phenological stage in different parts of plant was detected in terms of total unsaturated fatty acid and PUFA. These results are the first to point out the change of fatty acids profile in different parts of berseem clover plant during the vegetative and reproductive stages, but need to be confirmed in a long‐term study.