책임운영기관 농촌진흥청 국립축산과학원 (로고)

Alfalfa is one of the most useful forage crops worldwide, containing a high level of amino acids that are essential to both human and animal health. However, amino acids and their concentrations may differ between plant parts. Hence, detecting amino acids in different plant parts would be useful in the development of diet supplements. The purpose of this study was to determine the amino acid content in alfalfa leaves, stems, and inflorescences using an amino acid analyzer. Asparagine and glutamic acid were the most abundant amino acids found in stems, leaves, and inflorescences than other amino acids. All parts of alfalfa had low concentrations of cysteine and methionine. All amino acids except asparagine were present in the highest concentration in leaves followed by inflorescences. Leaf had a rich amino acid content, namely asparagine, glutamic acid, leucine, proline, and lysine. However, the stem had a lower amino acid composition than the leaf or inflorescence. Overall, the data showed determining the amino acid content of forages provides a good approach to making animal feed with essential and specific amino acids and preventing excessive inclusion of amino acids.