14/4/2010
Abstract
The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of dietary grape pomace (GP) on certain characteristics,mainly lipid peroxidation and the antioxidative status of rabbit buck semen. Twenty seven adult New Zealand White rabbit bucks (6 months of age) were divided into three homogeneous groups (n=9) and randomly submitted to one of the three investigated dietary treatments. Animals in the . rst treatment (control) group were given the basal diet. The diets of the second (GP-10) and third (GP-20) treatment groups contained 10 and 20% of GP, respectively. Bucks received the experimental diets for 10 continuous weeks. GP did not appear to have any signi. cant effect on body weight gain. Bucks receiving 10 or 20% dietary GP had a higher semen volume, 32% above that of rabbits in the control group (P<0.05). The same trend was observed for sperm count. Dietary GP reduced the percentage of dead sperm and enhanced sperm motility. Interestingly, GP reduced lipid peroxidation in seminal plasma as indicated by TBARS, and signi. Cantly increased both the total antioxidant capacity and glutathione peroxidase activity (P<0.05). In conclusion, the use of antioxidant dietary . bers rich in functional nutraceuticals (such as GP) may decrease lipid peroxidation and increase the antioxidative defense of rabbit semen.
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