Evaluation of dietary effects of soybean lecithin and vitamin E on sperm quality ‎parameters in ‎Hubbard grandparent roosters

Using 36 Hubbard grandparent roosters at 45 weeks of age, the present study investigated the effects of supplementing vitamin E and soybean lecithin in the roosters' diet on their semen quality. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four treatments including basal diet, basal diet supplemented with vitamin E (300 mg/kg), basal diet supplemented with lecithin (1%), and basal diet supplemented with lecithin & vitamin E. Roosters were fed their diets for 60 days and semen collection was performed on days 0, 20, 40 and 60 of the experiment. The results showed that the treatment containing vitamin E + lecithin significantly improved total sperm motility and sperm concentration (P<0.05). The semen volume and sperm kinematic values were not affected by experimental diets (P>0.05). Although experimental treatments had no effect on abnormal morphology of sperm and DNA fragmentation, but membrane integrity and sperm viability were significantly increased in roosters fed diet supplemented with soybean lecithin and vitamin E (P<0.05). Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration was also shown to be significantly lower in treatment containing vitamin E and soybean lecithin (P<0.05). The interaction effects of time× diet on total and progressive motility, sperm concentration, viability, membrane integrity and MDA content were significant (P<0.05) and these traits improved in the last days of the experiment due to diet supplemented with vitamin E+ soybean lecithin. Overall, it was concluded that supplementing aged roosters' diet with vitamin E and lecithin appears to improve sperm quality traits.