Genetic potential of wild birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) seeds collected from different geographical locations regarding to nutrient composition and nutritive value

To investigate the effects of seed origin on the nutrient content and nutritive value of birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.), seeds of wild birdsfoot trefoil (WBT) communities were collected from plants spontaneously occurring in pasture, rangelands and silvopastoral areas located at four altitudes, two latitudes and eight longitudes ranges of the Black Sea Region, Turkey. The relative feed value (RFV) and metabolizable energy (ME), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K) and condensed tannins (CT) contents, K/(Ca ? Mg) and Ca/P ratios of 126 populations from these seeds collected from different locations and grown under the same climatic conditions were determined. Altitude was significantly correlated with the abundance of WBT (r2 = 0.71). The abundance of population (percentage of WBT populations) in the silvopastoral areas (58.4 %) was higher than that in upland (5.6 %), pasture (16.7 %) and rangeland (19.3 %). The ME, RFV and ADF, NDF, P, K and CT contents of populations were not influenced by altitudinal and geographical gradients. There were obvious effects of altitude on Ca and Mg, of latitude on Ca and of longitude on CP, Ca and Mg, and also on Ca/P and K/(Ca ? Mg) ratios. This study provided information on genetic potentials of WBT populations in terms of nutritional properties. The results indicated that seeds selected from the populations that have high feed value can be used to improve the studied areas or artificial pasture and agroforest landscapes