RESUMO
The current study investigated the effect of olive oil (OO) dietary supplementation on rooster semen quality. Three groups of local breed roosters fifty fourth weeks old were randomly assigned to either one of the following diets during 8 weeks: ad libitum standard diet without OO dietary supplementation (Group 1), ad libitum standard diet with 0.2 ml of daily OO supplementation per rooster (Group 2), and ad libitum standard diet with 0.4 ml of daily OO supplementation per rooster (Group 3). Semen quality (volume, concentration, viability and motility) and biochemical seminal parameters (glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL) were determined twice weekly from the 5th to 8th week of treatment. Results showed no significant difference between the three groups during the three first weeks for sperm concentration and sperm motility; at the fourth week, males provided with 0.4 ml OO (Group 3) showed a significantly improved sperm concentration, sperm viability and sperm motility compared to the others groups. Even if group 3 showed slight elevated values for glucose, triglycerides and LDL, no significant difference was observed for semen volume and biochemical seminal parameters between the three studied groups. The current results suggest that olive oil dietary supplementation could be an interesting alternative to enhance rooster sperm quality particularly in aged individuals where ejaculates quality declines systematically.
