The effect of adding different levels of lycopene on some semen characteristics and antioxidant enzymes of diluted and frozen semen of Arabian rams

Abstract

 The experiment was conducted in the animal field of the College of Agriculture / University of Basra / Karmat Ali site for a period of three months from 10/15/2023 to 1/15/2024. Four Arabian rams were purchased from local markets in Basra Governorate, aged 2.5-3 years and of similar weights. They were fed a ration consisting of a feed mixture of barley, bran, straw, and some mineral salts. The experiment was conducted in the animal field of the College of Agriculture / University of Basra / Karmat Ali site for a period of three months from 10/15/2023 to 1/15/2024. Four Arabian rams were purchased from local markets in Basra Governorate, aged 2.5-3 years and with similar weights. They were fed a ration consisting of a feed mixture consisting of barley, bran, straw and some mineral salts. Clean water was provided to them inside the pen. The rams were trained to collect semen using the artificial vagina for rams in the animal field for a period of two weeks. After completing their training, semen was collected from them three times a month. The semen was transferred to the laboratory using test tubes and protected from light. The tubes were placed in a water bath at a temperature of 37°C. After that, the semen was diluted with diluting agents (turs, citric acid, fructose, egg yolk, lycopene, gentamicin and glycerol). The diluted semen was placed in 1 ml of Papendrovat, tightly closed and placed in the refrigerator. After the temperature stabilized at 5°C, it was stored in liquid nitrogen bottles at a temperature of -196°C for 10, 20 and 30 days to test the effect of the diluted semen. Freezing in ram semen traits, adding lycopene and the duration of freezing storage in the integrity of the acrosome and plasma membrane of frozen semen, antioxidants and enzymatic oxidation indicators (SOD, TAC, GPX and MDA) in the seminal plasma of diluted and frozen ram semen. The results were: Treatment T4 recorded the highest values ​​significantly (P<0.05)in the percentage of acrosome and plasma membrane integrity, and the 20-day period showed the highest percentages significantly (P<0.05)in acrosome integrity, while the 10-day period was significantly superior (P<0.05)in the percentage of plasma membrane of chilled and frozen semen. Treatment T4 was significantly superior (P<0.05)to the rest of the treatments in enzymatic antioxidants, SOD, TAC, GPX, while T4 recorded the highest values ​​significantly (P<0.05)in the percentage of enzymatic oxidation indicator MDA. The 10-day freezing period significantly (P<0.05)outperformed the other periods in the percentage of enzymatic antioxidants SOD, TAC, and GPX. The 10-day freezing period also showed the lowest values ​​(P<0.05) in the percentage of enzymatic antioxidant index MDA.