Palatability of annual and perennial legumes

Atanas Kirilov, Ina Stoycheva, Viliana Vasileva

Abstract: The study aimed to compare the palatability of green mass of whole plant of perennial legumes,
i.e. alfalfa, sainfoin and birdsfoot trefoil; annual legumes, i.e. soybeans, chickpeas, peas, vetch, broad beans, and grain of peas, chickpeas, broad beans, and nontreated and thermal-treated soybeans, by the so-called “cafeteria manger” method with rams. Alfalfa was the most palatable, followed by sainfoin. The palatability of birdsfoot trefoil was two times lower as compared to sainfoin and six times lower as compared to alfalfa. Alfalfa showed the highest palatability when compared to annual legumes, too. Vetch showed the highest palatability from the annual legumes, but peas, chickpeas, soybeans and broad beans showed very low palatability. For the grain from legumes – soybeans showed the highest palatability, followed by the grain of peas and vetch. Thermal-treated grain from soybeans had a 39% lower palatability as compared to non-treated. Chickpeas and broad beans had approximately zero palatability. Alfalfa could be considered as a standard for comparing palatability or consumption of legumes, both annual and perennial ones.

Keywords: chemical composition; legumes; palatability

Date published: 2017-02-09