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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The proanthocyanidin content as a tool to differentiate between Lotus tenuis and L. corniculatus individuals

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description

Abstract Lotus tenuis Wald et Kit and Lotus corniculatus L. are conspicuous elements of the agricultural landscape for cattle production. In South America, commercial L. tenuis stocks usually present contaminations with L. corniculatus, what brings about an important economical injure to the forage producers. A way to reduce or avoid loses is to assess the purity degree of L. tenuis seed lots before seeding. Methods so far described for the diagnosis of Lotus species when flowers are not available are lengthy, time consuming, need the implementation of sophisticated laboratories and are relatively expensive. It has been shown that Lotus species accumulate variable proanthocyanidins amounts, which can be easily visualized by a simple and rapid staining method. In this work, we demonstrate that the leaf PA content is a specific trait of L. tenuis and L. corniculatus and hence, it allows the unambiguous differentiation between both species, even at an early phenological stage.