Marković, JordanBabić, SnežanaLazarević, ĐorđeMilenković, JasminaPrijović, MladenZornic, VladimirVasić, Tanja2025-04-072025-04-0720211311-0489 (Print)https://rifoc.ikbks.com/handle/123456789/171M51 Рад у врхунском часопису националног значајаCarbohydrates are important in the nutrition of animals because they are the major source of energy and typically comprise 70 to 80{\%} of the diet. Carbohydrate contents of forage can vary widely due to the interaction of plants and their environment. These variables include: species and variety of the forage, stage of growth and environmental conditions during plant growth. The aim of this study was to estimate the content of NFC-Non-Fiber Carbohydrates and NDSF -- Neutral Detergent Soluble Fiber depending on the stage of growth, cuts and cultivars of alfalfa. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) -- cv K28 selected at Institute for forage crops Kru{\v{s}}evac and cv G+13R+CZ selected at UC Davis Plant Breeding Center, University of California were sampled at three stages of maturity: full bud, early bloom (10-15{\%} of flowering) and mid bloom (50-60{\%} of flowering) in four cuts during the year. Results of this investigation showed that alfalfa cultivars did not differ significantly in NFC and NDSF content. On the other hand, content of NFC decreased from 237.0 to 230.6 g kg -1 DM with growth and development, whereas content of NDSF increased with plant development from 131.5 to 136.8 g kg -1 DM, but the differences between treatments were not significant. The highest content of NFC and NDSF was observed in the third cut. These carbohydrates are considered to be highly digestible and rapidly fermentable. Improving the understanding of this large portion of the dairy cattle diet has the potential to improve animal performance and profitability while maintaining health.enCC0 1.0 Universalhttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/alfalfanon-fiber carbohydratesneutral detergent soluble fiberarticle