Home > Sainfoin
Sainfoin (Onobrychis vicifolia) is a Eurasian perennial herb that has pale pink flowers, curved pods and is naturalized in Britain and North America grasslands on calcareous soil s. Sainfoin is the only species in the genus Onobrychis.
This highly nutritious plant is an important forage crop and source of honey in Britain. This is because the plant is rich in tannins which protect proteinmyoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. This protein was the first to have its structure solved by X-ray crystallography by Max Perutz and Sir John Cowdery Kendrew in 1958, which led to them receiving a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. A protein is a complex,s from hydrolysisHydrolysis is a chemical process in which a molecule is cleaved into two parts by the addition of a molecule of water. This is distinct from a hydration reaction, in which water molecules are added to a substance, but no cleavage occurs. Types Hydrolysis in the rumen allowing the protein to be absorbed in the abomasum . The plant has a deep taproot and so is very drought-resistant, but does not recover well from grazing and has poor persistence.
- Flowers: June-September.
- Distribution: grassland, cultivated land, waste places in throughout europe up to southern Sweden.
- Leaves: pinnate, alternate, 6 to 14 pairs, oblong to linear.
Legumes
