IDENTIFICATION OF LOTUS-TENUIS AND LOTUS-CORNICULATUS SEEDS BY THEIR FLAVONOLS

Lotus tenuis Waldst. & Kit ex Willd. and Lotus corniculatus L. (birdsf oot trefoils) are important pasture legumes in Argentina adapted to di fferent climatic and soil conditions. Their seeds, however, are morpho logically so similar that often L. tenuis and L. corniculatus seeds lo ts are mixed. A rapid, accurate and inexpensive method for identifying seeds of both species that also allows an estimate of 5% of contamina tion of L. corniculatus in L. tenuis seed lots, is described. The test ing procedure is based on flavonol analysis by two-dimensional thin-la yer chromatography (TLC) on cellulose. The presence of quercetin-3-O-x yroside only in seeds of L. corniculatus allows discrimination from se eds oft. tenuis.