Alfalfa, Medicago Sativa, is one of the most nutritious foods known. Its calcium, carotene, chlorophyll, and vitamin K content make alfalfa an important nutritional supplement. Alfalfa is also loaded with vitamins A, D, E and K, eight digestive enzymes and numerous trace minerals. Though alfalfa has traditionally been grown all over the world as forage for cattle, alfalfa seeds are also a popular addition to the human diet when sprouted and used in salads and sandwiches. Dehydrated alfalfa leaf is commercially available as a dietary supplement in several forms, such as tablets, powders and tea.
This is a perennial plant with a smooth, erect stem growing 2-3 feet tall. It bears greyish-green pinnately trifoliate leaves, with egg-shaped leaflets; it looks much like a large clover.
Alfalfa has been extensively studied. Whole plant material contains many important substances, including several saponins, many sterols, coumarin, flavonoids, alkaloids, acids, vitamins, amino acids, sugars, proteins (25% by weight), minerals, trace elements, and other nutrients.
Alfalfa is a good source of nutrients due to its deep roots, which extract nutrients from the substrate even when surface soils are depleted due to poor agricultural methods. Alfalfa is rich in vitamins (particularly vitamin K), minerals, amino acids, carotenoids, enzymes, and the green pigment, chlorophyll.Alfalfa is basically a food, which makes ‘dosage’ inappropriate, however levels of 1-10 grams are suggested when in powdered form.