Hazim J. Al-Daraji

This study was conducted to determine the probable suppressive role of certain grape components on detrimental effects of lipid peroxidation which accompanied with liquid storage of roosters' semen. A total of 60 White Leghorn roosters, 32 weeks of age, randomly divided into 6 groups of 10 roosters each were used in this experiment. Semen samples for each treatment group were collected on a weekly basis during the whole experiment period which lasted 10 weeks. Treatment groups were as follows: T1 = fresh semen (control group); T2 = semen diluted 1: 1 with Lake diluent (LD) alone; T3 = semen diluted with LD and supplemented with 4 ml of grape flavonoids; T4 = semen diluted with LD and supplemented with 4 ml of grape phenols; T5 = semen diluted with LD and supplemented with 4 mg of grape seed proanthocyanidins extract (GSPE); and T6 = semen diluted with LD and supplemented with 4 ml of grape juice concentrate (GJC). Results revealed that after 1, 7 and 14 d in vitro storage, the supplementation of roosters' semen diluent with certain grape components (T3, T4, T5 and T6) resulted in significant (p< 0.05) improvement in mass and individual motility of spermatozoa in comparison with control group (T1) and significant improvement in regard to percentages of live spermatozoa and normal spermatozoa and acrosomes compared with T1 and T2 groups. Besides, T3 and T5 groups surpasses all other treatments involved in the present study as concerns all of semen traits involved in the present study. In conclusion, grape components especially flavonoids and GSPE gave a good suppression against the detriments of lipid peroxidation during in vitro storage of roosters' semen for up to 14d. Key words: Grape constituents, semen quality, storage ability, roosters' semen