Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.): renewed interest as a forage legume for western Canada

Abstract

Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) is a perennial forage legume that has received renewed interest in western Canada because of its desirable forage characteristics. The objective of this review is to summarize previous studies on the agronomy, forage yield, nutritive value, seed characteristics, and diseases and pests of sainfoin. In addition, the review also focuses on the genetic diversity and registered cultivars of sainfoin and their potential use in temperate grasslands. Past studies have reported that sainfoin has a high nutritive value, and high voluntary intake and palatability to grazing animals. In western Canada, dry matter (DM) yield of sainfoin is 80%–95% that of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Unlike other legumes such as alfalfa, sainfoin does not cause bloat in grazing animals due to the presence of condensed tannins. Sainfoin is suitable for monoculture or binary mixtures with either grasses or alfalfa. Genetic diversity studies revealed that sainfoin germplasm generally has high variation within populations. Genetic variation among plants provides an opportunity to develop improved cultivars with desirable characteristics. However, compared with the other forage legumes, sainfoin is still an underdeveloped forage crop with few cultivars being available in western Canada. New sainfoin cultivars with high DM yield and persistence under regional growing conditions are required.

Benefits of Condensed Tannins in Forage Legumes Fed to Ruminants: Importance of Structure, Concentration, and Diet Composition

“…have been evaluated in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Switzerland (Mosjidis 2001;Waghorn 2008;Häring et al, 2008;Berard et al, 2011;Li et al, 2014;Grabber et al, 2015), sulla in Australia (de Koning et al, 2003(de Koning et al, , 2010Heuzé et al, 2015) and sainfoin in Canada and Europe (Häring et al, 2008;Hayot Carbonero et al, 2011;Malisch et al, 2015;Bhattarai et al, 2016). have been evaluated in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Switzerland (Mosjidis 2001;Waghorn 2008;Häring et al, 2008;Berard et al, 2011;Li et al, 2014;Grabber et al, 2015), sulla in Australia (de Koning et al, 2003(de Koning et al, , 2010Heuzé et al, 2015) and sainfoin in Canada and Europe (Häring et al, 2008;Hayot Carbonero et al, 2011;Malisch et al, 2015;Bhattarai et al, 2016).…”

Sainfoin production in western Canada: A review of agronomic potential and environmental benefits

“…As a consequence of the apparent differences in agronomic performance and CT concentration associated with genetic stock, many researchers have begun their studies by first obtaining seeds from globally diverse populations (Azuhnwi et al, 2011(Azuhnwi et al, , 2012Bhattarai, Coulman, Fu, Beattie, & Biligetu, 2017;Gea, Stringano, Brown, & Mueller-Harvey, 2011;Goplen, Howarth, Sarkar, & Lesins, 1980;Hatew et al, 2015aHatew et al, , 2015bHosaininejadmir, Jafari, & Nakhjavan, 2011;Jafari, Rasouli, Tabaei-Aghdaei, Shanjani, & Alizadeh, 2014;Lorenz, Carbonero, Smith, & Udén, 2012;Malisch et al, 2015;Mohajer et al, 2013;Prospéri, Demarquet, Angevain, & Mansat, 1994;Thill et al, 2012;Zarrabian, Majidi, & Ehtemam, 2013). This reflects an attempt to rapidly enhance research efforts on sainfoin by utilizing advanced techniques, in part due to new interest in potential environmental and animal health benefits.…”

Assessment of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) germplasm for agro‐morphological traits and nutritive value

“…It is a cross‐pollinated crop with each inflorescence containing 70–80 pink or purple flowers (Goplen, Richards, & Moyer, ). A review on sainfoin origin, adaptation, agronomy and its genetic diversity can be found in Bhattarai, Coulman, and Biligetu ().…”

“…A number of sainfoin cultivars have been released for use in temperate regions, but genetic improvement is relatively slow due to the lack of adapted germplasm and limited breeding effort (Bhattarai et al., ). Characterization of new germplasm is critical to plant breeding because it not only provides phenotypic and agronomic information, but also is useful for estimation of genetic variation for further genetic selection (Govindaraj, Vetriventhan, & Srinivasan, ).…”