Alfalfa (Medicago sativa, Leguminosae family) is a perennial plant that grows easily, but the best crops of honey occur in humid and hot conditions. Since it is rarely made, the production of alfalfa honey varies from year to year.

The plant blooms from May to September and it is left to bloom in order to produce seeds. The honey extraction is carried out between July and August. Between November and December the honey is crystallized and amber in colour.

The honey produced on alfalfa flowering comes from hives placed in Emilia-Romagna, between north regional border and south of first hills layers, up to 200 meters above sea level.

The beekeeper from Altedo (Bologna) Pier Paolo Cazzola explains: "The alfalfa honey is the most suitable for athletes subjected to prolonged effort, thanks to the special energy charge that it delivers".

Alfalfa has been used for years as a food for herbivorous animals. It has recently begun to be used as human food. It seems certain that the wealth of its nutritional value lies in the fact that its roots dig deep in the ground in search of buried mineral soil.