Talk:Alfalfa

message: Might it be an idea to mention that though Lucerne is used as fodder for cattle, it also causes fatal cases of bloat in at least Cattle and Sheep that have fed on it for too long.  Its in most farmers almanacs that I have read.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.253.20.198 (talk) 09:27, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lucerne as Fodder 

message: What kind of herbal dietary supplement value does Alfalfa have?
Joel M. 01:30, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)
One Opinion:  Alfalfa (Medicago sativa, Lucerne) is considered by many to have significant nutritional value for humans. It can be consumed as sprouted seeds (with initial two leaves) or unsprouted seed (more difficult to digest and controversial for several auto-immune syndromes.) They can be consumed as a tea or as a desiccated "grass sprout" either in tablet or powder form. It can be a source of dietary fiber, depending on how it is consumed. It contains significant amounts of vitamins A (carotene), B-complex, C, E, K and P (bioflavinoids) plus enzymes, amino acids, calcium and other essential minerals that contribute to its utilization in bones. It contributes to vein, circulatory heath and normal clotting. (Note corresponding cautions pre-surgically and for some specific blood disorders.) It prevents plaque build-up in the arteries. Several of the preceding points argue for its use in reducing potential for stroke. It promotes healthy lactation for nursing mothers. Many people have great success in reducing allergic over-response in their seasonal allergies with alfalfa tea, powder or tablets. NOTE: There is some controversy (especially in the Ayurveda medical system) about the use of sprouts (of any type) in the daily diet, especially for VATA constitution, as they are considered overly astringent and agitating. All sprouts contain concentrated, though natural, toxicity for use in their own survival.  This toxicity was even referenced in the main article on alfalfa as a reason for crop rotation in alfalfa planting.)  Charlotte Jernigan 17:10, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dietary supplement value 

message: What is the relationship between THIS alfalfa (used for animal feed) and the small fresh shoots sold in plastic containers at the greengrocer for sandwiches and salads - that's called alfalfa too... KJ
:Same stuff, just much younger.
:*I think we need a reference to the latter in the article. QuinnHK 18:33, 17 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  two alfalfas? 

message: The taxobox lists "Family: Fabaceae"; the article itself says "family: Leguminosae"--?  Is it both?  --KQ
:The USDA website says Fabaceae. --rmhermen
::It's both, a third name for the same familiy is Papilionaceae. -- Gauss 13:54, 2 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Family 

message: Our Gang was actually a short film series released to movie theatres, not a television show. --b. Touch 07:52, 19 Sep 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Our Gang 

message: I have reverted an anonymous, unreferenced change to the weight of the large, round bales used by cattle ranches, originally 1,000 pounds, then changed to 2,000.  I didn't take the time find a source for the number.  — Pekinensis 23:14, 23 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Thank you. There may be 2,000 pound bales out there somewhere, but I've never seen them. Around here they run between about 1,350 and 1,700. Gary D Robson 16:19, 25 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd suggest rounding the figures to 500-1000 kg. Bale weight isn't a very high precision detail. - MPF 19:58, 25 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bale weight 

message: Not sure why this page lists the whole genus Medicago; Alfalfa is just M. sativa. When I've a bit more time, I'll split out a new Medicago genus page, and merge the existing Medicago sativa page with this one - MPF 20:03, 25 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I think I've managed to do this properly; there's now a new page for Medicago, with the interwiki links formerly at this page, and the information from Medicago sativa has been inserted into this article and that article redirected here. Choess 06:47, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Article coverage

message: I have increasingly noticed alfalfa sprouts in the chilled cabinet at local vegan / trendy greengrocers.  It would be interesting to include what the culinary use of alfalfa usually is, when it became populular.  Has it always been a salad ingredient?  Is it to do with vegetarian health?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.105.228.120 (talk) 01:30, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Modern fashion food 

message: I really admired this entry and decided to spend some time copyediting it to improve it readibility. I  very slightly expanded the section on Roundup Ready alfalfa, mentioning that it belongs to Monsanto, the source of the lawsuit, and clarifying the issue of gene flow (omitting the term), since it wasn't explained anyway. Most of my edits were to remove excess words, use the active voice, and similar. Eperotao (talk) 18:31, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Copyediting 

message: This article talk page was automatically added with  banner as it falls under :Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here . If you have concerns , please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 13:00, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: [[WP:FOOD|WikiProject Food and drink]] Tagging

message: I'm genuinely curious about the the initial paragraph:
"Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop. In the UK, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand it is known as lucerne and as lucerne grass in south Asia."
The rest of the article suggests it's grown worldwide, so I initally assumed "alfalfa" was a universal name and a British name had spread through the Commonwealth.  But a quick glance at the interwikis shows they tend to either be related to "lucerne", or completely unlike either.  Alfalfa seems to be Spanish-related.  Anyway... is "alfalfa" just used in Canada and the US, or are there other places I missed out?  I'm finding this paragraph a bit ambiguous. -- Shimmin Beg (talk) 23:14, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Name (not a move proposal) 

message: I removed this from the main page: 
retail size for hay
Bale sizes:
Bale size: 3 string 100 # to 140# to 140#  22” x 15” x 44” 
Bale size: 2 string 40 # to   75 #  19” x 16” x 36”  
One ton bales: 2000# 4’  x   4’  x  8’ 
Half ton bales: 1000# 3’  x  4’   x  6’
Round bales: 850 to 1100# 4x4   or   4x5
If someone could put this info into a table or improve the information and re add it ...Onefinalstep (talk) 00:08, 9 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Need Table for Bail Sizes 

message: Can someone take a look at the references and tell me if they are formatted correctly.  I've been messing around with it but Chrome is not regeristing the "Reflist|colwidth=30em" ... FireFox is though.Onefinalstep (talk) 14:09, 9 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  References 

message: Found some research that presence of canavanine sugest anti cancer properties of alfalfa. 
The natural abundance of L-canavanine, an active anticancer agent, in alfalfa, medicago sativa (L.).
Rosenthal GA, Nkomo P.
Abstract
L-Canavanine, a potentially toxic antimetabolite of L-arginine that is stored by many leguminous plants, has demonstrative antineoplastic activity against a number of animal-bearing carcinomas and cancer cell lines. This investigation evaluated the natural abundance of this anti-cancer compound in commercially available sprouts, and in ten varieties of the seed of alfalfa, Medicago Sativa (L.). Canavanine abundance in commercially grown sprouts varied according to the source; the young plant stored appreciable canavanine that ranged from 1.3 to 2.4% of the dry matter. Alfalfa seeds were also rich in this nonprotein amino acid as the canavanine content varied from 1.4 to 1.8% of the dry matter. On average, the tested seeds contained 1.54 ± 0.03% canavanine. Alfalfa seed canavanine content was comparable to the levels found in the seeds of representative members of the genus Canavalia , which are amongst the more abundance sources of this antimetabolite.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21214431 
http://www.encognitive.com/node/14527 
159.148.5.4 (talk) 16:52, 5 December 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for your note.  The current toxicity section is based on what happens when real people eat real raw alfalfa. It is true.  The anti-cancer info you provide above is based on studies in cells and model animals, and we do not know if it is true, that Canavanine will be useful to treat cancer in people - we won't know until there are clinical trials in people.  So... content based on this doesn't belong in the toxicity section at all. If it goes anywhere it would go into a Research section in an article on Canavanine, not in an article about alfalfa.  So i reverted your addition.  Hope that makes sense - happy to discuss. Jytdog (talk) 17:26, 5 December 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Toxicity of canavanine 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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message: In the 16th century, Spanish colonizers introduced alfalfa to the Americas as fodder for their horses. 'They were aware that alfalfa is better than grass as food for working horses (alfalfa had more energy).''
This is not true, legumes don't have more energy than grasses. Whatsmore legumes are not fed pure, but mixed with grasses, maize, and/or cereal grain.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A03:7500:A84:8400:4F4:60D5:38F2:FA10 (talk) 12:24, 24 July 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  History 

message: The article says that the plant is known as lucerne in Australia. I live in Melbourne and I think that may be the case for the grown plant, but "alfalfa" is still used to refer to the sprouts used for salad.
I have never heard of the sprouts being called lucerne, and never heard of alfalfa being used in other contexts, so I think it is a matter of different terms for different aspects of the plant. 
I don't know how widespread this is. It could be different in other states. 121.200.6.49 (talk) 10:56, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Terminology in Australia 

message: I am a UK national and have not seen the term Lucerne in any shops
Alfalfa is the common name.
I may be wrong and I think this should be considered for amendment.
Thank you to all who edit. PS_Micra (talk) 04:47, 26 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Terminology in United Kingdom