Nutrient Composition, Forage Parameters, and Antioxidant Capacity of Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa, L.) in Response to Saline Irrigation Water

Jorge F. S. Ferreira, Monica V. Cornacchione, Xuan Liu and Donald L. Suarez
Additional contact information
Jorge F. S. Ferreira: US Salinity Laboratory, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA
Monica V. Cornacchione: US Salinity Laboratory, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA
Xuan Liu: US Salinity Laboratory, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA
Donald L. Suarez: US Salinity Laboratory, 450 W. Big Springs Rd., Riverside, CA 92507, USA

Agriculture, 2015, vol. 5, issue 3, 1-21

Abstract: Although alfalfa is moderately tolerant of salinity, the effects of salinity on nutrient composition and forage parameters are poorly understood. In addition, there are no data on the effect of salinity on the antioxidant capacity of alfalfa. We evaluated four non-dormant, salinity-tolerant commercial cultivars, irrigated with saline water with electrical conductivities of 3.1, 7.2, 12.7, 18.4, 24.0, and 30.0 dS·m ?1 , designed to simulate drainage waters from the California Central Valley. Alfalfa shoots were evaluated for nutrient composition, forage parameters, and antioxidant capacity. Salinity significantly increased shoot N, P, Mg, and S, but decreased Ca and K. Alfalfa micronutrients were also affected by salinity, but to a lesser extent. Na and Cl increased significantly with increasing salinity. Salinity slightly improved forage parameters by significantly increasing crude protein, the net energy of lactation, and the relative feed value. All cultivars maintained their antioxidant capacity regardless of salinity level. The results indicate that alfalfa can tolerate moderate to high salinity while maintaining nutrient composition, antioxidant capacity, and slightly improved forage parameters, thus meeting the standards required for dairy cattle feed.

Keywords: alfalfa; salinity; forage quality; nutrient composition; antioxidant capacity; total phenolics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/5/3/577/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/5/3/577/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:5:y:2015:i:3:p:577-597:d:53323

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().