Biodiversity in red clover (<i>Trifolium pratense</i> L.) collected from Turkey. II: Nutritional values

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare 47 red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) populations and one cultivar as a control in terms of nutritional values for animal feeding in the second production year (2010). The experiment was established in Samsun-Turkey. They were evaluated for crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), total digestible nutrients (TDN), dry matter intake (DMI), digestible dry matter (DDM), relative feed value (RFV), crude ash, Ca, K, Mg, P contents, Ca:P and K:(Ca+Mg) ratios in dry matter. There was big variability in all nutritional values among the populations. These values were determined as 127.9 to 208.4, 367.0 to 612.8, 503.3 to 756.1, 379.2 to 594.6, 15.9 to 23.9, 411.6 to 603.1, 50.6 to 112.0, 78.4 to 127.1, 15.5 to 22.2, 9.93 to 25.05, 3.08 to 4.58, 1.67 to 3.56, 4.53 to 11.45 and 0.46 to 1.29 g kg-1, respectively.

Key words: Acid detergent fiber, crude protein, forage quality, red clover.