Influence of various dietary fat sources on freezing capacity of Moghani ram semen

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of protected fish oil (FO) and Persia fat^® (PF) on the quality of Moghani ram semen. For this purpose, a total of 96 ejaculates were collected from 12 healthy mature Moghani rams, which were divided into three distinct groups (n = 4) and were assigned to one of three experimental diets. The first group (control) received a diet supplemented with palm oil (PO), while the second and third groups received encapsulated FO and PF, respectively. After primary evaluation, semen samples of each group were pooled to eliminate individual differences, and then evaluated for semen concentration and volume. Afterwards, the samples were diluted with a Tris-based extender and frozen with a standard protocol. After thawing, motion kinetics, viability, membrane functionality and abnormality were assessed. The results showed that the group that received FO had significanty higher viability (quadratic), progressive motility (PM) (%), average path velocity (VAP) (μm/s), curvilinear velocity (VCL) (μm/s) (linear), amplitude of lateral head displacement (ALH) (μm) (quadratic) and sperm concentration (linear) than the others. Additionally, total motility (TM) (%) and straight-line velocity (VSL) (μm/s) were significantly higher in the groups that received FO and PF compared with the control (quadratic) The results indicated that sperm abnormalities in the control group were significantly higher than the other groups. In conclusion, enrichment of the diet with FO or Persia fat could enhance ram sperm quality after freeze-thawing process.

Keywords: fish oil, frozen spermatozoa, ram, motion parameters