Contents
Useful properties and cultivation of sainfoin
Botanical characteristics of sainfoin
Esparzat is a perennial herbaceous plant, the height of which reaches 30–70 cm. It belongs to the legume family. The root of the sainfoin is taproot, the stem is straight, its upper part is branched. The leaves are pinnate, compound, formed from 15–25 small leaflets. Sainfoin is distinguished by bright, beautiful flowers of pink-purple color, they are collected in brushes, the length of which can reach 20 cm.
The fruit of the plant is a bean rich in protein. Flowering begins from the second year of the plant’s life, sainfoin blooms from early summer to early July. Each blooming flower lives for a very short time – 10-12 hours. Honey plant: from one hectare, on which there are up to 500 million flowers, bee colonies can collect up to 6 kg of honey in one day. Pollen and nectar collections from sainfoin help to strengthen bee colonies.
Honey collected from this plant is transparent, fragrant and tasty, light amber, does not sugar for a long time. Esparcet is highly valued in the world of beekeeping, its qualities are taken into account when forming apiaries in the Voronezh and Rostov regions, in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia. Sainfoin grows on the edges of forests, meadows, among shrubs.
Useful properties of sainfoin
The sainfoin is cultivated as a fodder plant. It contains a large amount of protein, as well as fats, carbohydrates and amino acids. This crop has a high value in animal husbandry, it is sown in order to obtain grass meal and hay for livestock feed. Most livestock specialists prefer sainfoin over alfalfa, because feed prepared on its basis has a positive effect on the condition of animals.
The flavones, nitrogen-free compounds, ascorbic acid and rutin that make up the plant make it possible to speak of sainfoin as a medicinal plant. Nitrogen-free compounds help lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels, normalize the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, stimulate intestinal motility and improve the absorption of nutrients that come with food.
Ascorbic acid significantly improves immunity, strengthens the central nervous system (central nervous system), and normalizes metabolism. Amino acids, being the “building material” of the body, help people recover from illnesses, regain strength after heavy physical exertion, and are useful for athletes who have a high energy consumption during training.
Flavones, which are part of the plant, have an anti-inflammatory effect, they have a positive effect on cardiovascular and oncological diseases, strengthen the walls of blood vessels. Sainfoin seeds contain sucrose, raffinose, fatty oils with solid fatty acids. In addition, sainfoin contains vitamin P (rutin).
Vitamin P is not able to be produced by the human body on its own, so it must be consumed with food or decoctions from plants.
The use of sainfoin
Preparations prepared on the basis of sainfoin contribute to the production of hormones in men that increase sexual activity – testosterone and androgens. For treatment, not only infusions and decoctions from this plant are used, but also medicines produced by a number of pharmaceutical companies. These drugs significantly improve the quality of erection.
In folk medicine, sainfoin is recommended as an immune-strengthening agent that increases the body’s resistance to various infectious diseases, it is also used to treat disorders of the functioning of the sex glands (menstrual irregularities in women, impotence in men), and is prescribed for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Infusions and decoctions of sainfoin help lower blood cholesterol levels, increase hemoglobin levels.
Infusions and decoctions are used as an effective tonic, as well as an effective medicine for uterine bleeding. Esparcet is an important component of a number of drugs developed for the treatment of ovarian dysfunction in women, algomenorrhea (pain during menstruation), juvenile bleeding, and premenopause.
Semena Esparceta
Sainfoin seeds are bean-shaped, embossed to the touch, greyish-yellow-green in color. On the territory of Russia, the following types of sainfoin are chosen for cultivation: sand sainfoin, sowing sainfoin, Transcaucasian sainfoin. The ideal depth for sowing sainfoin is 2-3 cm. If you make the depth deeper – for example, 5-6 cm – the seeds most likely will not sprout. The sowing rate is 1,2 kg of seeds per 1 hectare of land. The plant is sown, as a rule, under the cover of early grain crops.
Growing sainfoin
On the territory of the CIS countries, especially in Ukraine, in the Caucasus, in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, three main types of sainfoin are grown: sowing sainfoin (vikolisty), sandy sainfoin, Transcaucasian sainfoin. They are used as a useful fodder plant, in addition, sainfoin is a valuable honey plant.
Esparcet is well grown in fodder multifields. The predecessors recommended for the plant are corn, potatoes, beets, as well as crops that were grown with organic fertilizers. The soils on which sunflower was grown are not suitable for growing sainfoin, since such a plant dries out the soil.
For the proper cultivation of sainfoin, tillage technology is especially important. It consists in leveling the top layer of the earth, its pre-sowing and post-sowing rolling. Before you start sowing, you need to make sure that the area is free of weeds, carefully leveled and there are no large clods of earth on it.
If a high yield is required, it is important to fertilize the previous (poor) soil with organic fertilizers. The dosage is from 60 to 80 kg/ha. For nitrogen fertilizers, the figures are different: for annual grasses – 30-45 kg / ha, for barley – 40-50 kg / ha. It is forbidden to use liquid forms of nitrogen fertilizers, as their use can damage seedlings. Useful phosphorus and potash fertilizers.
For sainfoin, acidic soils are undesirable, since nodule bacteria develop poorly in them, as a result of which the absorption of nitrogen from the air by plants is significantly reduced. Therefore, acidic soils are recommended to be preliminarily subjected to liming. Sainfoin seedlings do not respond well to shade, in addition, they need cover crops (winter cereals, spring, green fodder, annual grasses), which are harvested early for forage.
Sainfoin sowing
Sowing sainfoin begins with the preparation of the soil, its peeling and cleaning from weeds. Poor soil is recommended to be prepared using potash and phosphorus fertilizers. Sowing itself begins in the spring, in contrast to soil preparation, which is carried out until the end of October. Sainfoin and grass mixture (barley and oats) are sown under cover.
The best way of sowing is horizontal. It is important to observe the accuracy of the sowing depth: on heavy soils it is 2-3 cm, on light and medium soils – 4-XNUMX cm. If the depth is made more than it should be, the sprouts may not sprout. After sowing is completed, the soil is tightly rolled. It is necessary to collect the cover crop in a timely manner, remove the straw from the field. In order to protect against pests, it is allowed to spray crops with insecticides (“Aktellik”, “Volaton”).
Esparcet as a honey plant
Esparcet is deservedly considered one of the best honey plants. Of particular value is the Transcaucasian sainfoin – its honey productivity can be (under favorable conditions) 400 kg per hectare. Strong families of bees collect about 4 kg of honey from esparcet in one day. For honey collected from sainfoin flowers, a light amber hue, transparency, rich taste and delicate aroma are characteristic. honey does not crystallize for a long time.
Honey contains proteins, carbohydrates, ascorbic acid, carotene, enzymes and other substances that are beneficial to the human body. Sainfoin flowers begin to secrete nectar at an air temperature of 22 to 25 ° C. It should be noted that the largest amount of nectar is allocated in wide-row crops. In order to increase the amount of honey from sainfoin, it is important to prepare the apiary for the beginning of flowering. The flowering of sainfoin, as a rule, coincides with the period of brood in bees, and a large proportion of honey is spent on feeding it.
Sorta esparceta
Esparcet belongs to the legume family. About 80 species of this plant are known, growing in the wild in central and southern parts of Europe, in western Asia and northern Africa. The most popular in modern culture are only a few varieties: Transcaucasian, sowing (vital), sandy, as well as their hybrids.
Transcaucasian sainfoin, in comparison with other species, brings the most harvest. It is resistant to drought and frost, grows back quickly after mowing, two, and sometimes three mowings can be achieved in one season. This variety is planted mainly in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia.
Sandy sainfoin got its name because of the ability to grow on any soil, including sandy ones. It is drought and frost resistant. The disadvantages of sandy sainfoin are its coarse stem and a small number of leaves. In modern culture, hybrid varieties of this plant are popular.
Sowing (vital) sainfoin is one of the most common varieties; it ripens earlier than all cultivated cultural species by 1,5–2 weeks. Seed sainfoin, unlike its relatives, does not tolerate cold and drought and gives one mowing per season.
Sainfoin sowing. Due to its composition, the plant is used by traditional healers to treat disorders of the sex glands (impotence in men or menstrual irregularities in women), with uterine bleeding. Infusions and decoctions based on it are recommended to increase immunity, to treat diabetes, and also as a tonic. Esparcet helps to lower blood cholesterol levels, increases hemoglobin levels.
Sainfoin sandy. Sandy esparcet (other names are “hare peas”, “crow”, “red burkun”, “white cornflowers”, “red gorse”, etc.) is a perennial, reaching a height of 80 cm. Its root system is quite powerful, the root grows deep, reaching 2,7 meters. The stems are thick, erect, there are times when the stem becomes very coarse at the base. The leaves are pinnate, compound, they consist of 6-10 pairs of oblong-lanceolate leaflets. The inflorescence is a multi-flowered brush, the length of which can reach 20 cm.
The flowers are large, moth type, delicate pink, sometimes white, collected in dense brushes. The fruit of the plant is an egg-shaped bean. Its length is from 5 to 7 mm, thickness – about 4 mm, brownish-brown color. Seeds are brown, kidney-shaped. This variety of sainfoin blooms in May-July.
Proteins, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, a number of enzymes, tannins, and coumarins were found in the composition of the aerial part of the plant. The seeds contain up to 8% fatty oils. Esparcet is used in folk medicine as infusions and decoctions. It has a positive effect in restoring the sexual activity of men, therefore, in combination with other plants, this species is used to treat impotence.
Recipe for making an infusion of sainfoin roots. It is required to take 1 tablespoon of ready-made raw materials (crushed sainfoin roots) and pour boiling water in an amount of 300 ml, put on a slow fire and boil for 0,5 hours, then insist for 8 hours and then strain. Reception schedule – 3 times a day: in the morning and afternoon, 60 ml, before dinner – the rest of the infusion.
Esparcet as green manure
Esparcet is not only a good fodder plant, one of the best honey plants and a “folk healer”, it is also an excellent green manure (used for soil-protective crop rotation). It is grown for the purpose of subsequent incorporation into the soil as an organic fertilizer. Esparcet is one of the best predecessors. It is rich in proteins, carbohydrates, fats, trace elements, nitrogen-free compounds, vitamin C, rutin, flavonoids and amino acids.
Sainfoin is interesting as a soil enricher with nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matter.
Contraindications to the use of sainfoin
To date, contraindications to the use of sainfoin have not been identified. The use should be discontinued in case of individual intolerance.