Variation in Herbage Biochemical Composition among Pitch Trefoil (Bituminaria bituminosa) Populations from Elba Island, Italy.

This study assessed the variation in herbage protein and fiber content as well as concentration of furocoumarins, plicatin B, (E)-werneria chromene, and pterocarpans of pitch trefoil (Bituminaria bituminosa) germplasm sampled in situ in both summer and autumn in Elba Island, Italy. Populations were sampled from a range of climatic and edaphic conditions, on light soils with pH > 7.5. Valuable variation occurred for forage quality and chemical composition. The quality features, relevant for a possible forage utilization of the species, were promising for the leaves, which represented about two-thirds of the total aerial biomass in early summer and the whole green regrowth in autumn. The species can also represent a source of psoralen, angelicin, plicatin B, bitucarpin A, and erybraedin C for possible pharmaceutical and/or agrochemical use, with individual populations showing high levels of these compounds.