The effect of curcumin on frozen-thawed sperm quality and fertility of broiler ‎breeder roosters

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of curcumin on post-thawed sperm quality parameters and fertility of male broiler breeders. Twenty 49-week-old Ross 308 broiler roosters were randomly divided into four experimental groups (n=5). Different levels of curcumin including: 0 (T1), 10 (T2), 20 (T3) and 30 (T4) mg of curcumin/bird/day were supplemented to basal diet and fed to the birds from 49-61 weeks of age. After a 5-week of feeding curcumin (49-53 weeks), sperm quality was assessed for 6 weeks (54 to 59 weeks of age) following cryopreservation of semen samples. In order to evaluate fertility rate, the semen samples from weeks 60 and 61 were thawed and artificially inseminated into 68 broiler hens (n=17). Curcumin supplementation increased total motility in the T3 and T4 groups, and progressive motility in the T2, T3, and T4 groups compared to the T1 group (P<0.05). Feeding curcumin increased the viability of sperm in T3 and T4 groups compared to the T1 group (P<0.05). Plasma membrane functionality (HOS) was increased in all curcumin-treated birds compared to the control group (P<0.05); however, the highest performance was observed in T3 and T4 groups. Curcumin supplementation increased fertility rate in T3 and T4 groups compared to the T1 group. In general, the results of this study indicated positive effects of curcumin on sperm quality and fertility of broiler breeder roosters after thawing, and the best results were obtained when 20 or 30 mg of curcumin were fed daily for 13 weeks.