Effect of Watercress extract on rooster semen during storage at 4°C

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of Watercress extract on rooster sperm storage at 4 °C by using 15 mature roosters. Semen collection was performed twice a week in 5 times. In each session, ejaculates were pooled and split into five parts. The amount of 0, 300, 600, 900 and 1200 μg/mL Watercress extract were added to each part. After that, samples were chilled to 4 °C and kept until 72 h. Sperm viability (by staining Hoechst 33258), motility and membrane integrity were evaluated at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h. To determine lipid peroxidation, the concentration of malondialdehid (MDA) was evaluated by using 300 106 spermatoza at 48 h. The results showed that the lowest of concentration of MDA (1.0 μM/mL) was in 600 μg/mL Watercress extract (P<0.05). The main effect of watergrass on sperm viability showed that viability of spermatozoa was lowest (73.4%) in 1200 μg/mL Watercress extract level (P<0.05). There was interaction between Watercress extract and storage time on sperm motility and membrane integrity (P<0.05). After 48 h incubation, membrane integrity was higher in 600 μg/mL (90.70%) Watercress extract than control (85.80%; P<0.05). At 72 h, there was no difference between 600 (51±3.36) and 300 (42.60±3.01) μg/mL Watercress extract on sperm motility (P>0.05) and it was higher in 600 μg/mL Grass water extract than other treatments (P<0.05). Therefore, the addition of 600 μg/mL Watercress extract to semen improves longevity of rooster spermatozoa at 4 C.