b"Drought stressed alfalfa. PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLIE BRUMMERbreaks down rapidly into amino acids through the process ofBalancing Tradition and Innovationproteolysis.Diversification away from just forage and livestock feeding USDA-ARS research biologist Christina Arther is working toapplications could greatly enhance the economic value of alfalfa solve this post-harvest proteolysis through a process that allowsas well as drive breeding innovation as varieties are developed researchers to more efficiently screen many different alfalfa sam- that are specifically suited for protein extraction.ples that were either managed differently or genetically diverseRight now, it still makes the most sense to feed it to dairy ani-varieties. mals and let them produce human foods, Putnam says. But for This process uses a higher-throughput fluorescence intensity- the future, we're going to have to look for options like this. Alfalfa based protease activity assay specifically for aboveground plantactually has about 20 to 24%protein in the whole plant, and if tissue. you change your agronomic methods, you can even increase it Our aim was to balance accuracy and throughput, the latterto 28 or 30%of which has been a bottleneck, Arther says. We use a com- If youre thinking about the balance between food demand mercially available protein substrate that is bound to a fluores- and crop production and the efficiency with which we produce cent molecule. When the proteases present in a plant samplecrops, we have to envision things like this for the future, Putnam break down the protein, the fluorescent molecule is liberated,says. and the fluorescence is increased and can be measured. As the seed industry works to provide producers with sus-The higher the fluorescence, the more proteases are activetainable and environmentally responsible solutions for forage in the plant sample and the less likely a particular plant sampleand food, university research is important to develop better represents a potential successful protein extraction.seeds, introduce sustainable production practices and expand If we can find a variety that has significantly lower proteasemarkets alfalfa. activity, and therefore has more intact protein after harvest,Its an excellent crop for many reasons. Keeping alfalfa we may be able to use that variety in a breeding program toaround is critical, Brummer says. Things are on the upswing but improve alfalfa for protein extraction for human consumption,its still lagging behind the bigger crops in terms of innovation. Arther says.We need more people working on it.SW34/ SEEDWORLD.COMOCTOBER 2024"