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The purpose of this test was to investigate the effect of salvianic acid A (SAA, CAS No. 76822‐21‐4) on the quality of boar semen during liquid storage at 17°C. The effects of different concentrations of SAA on semen quality and antioxidant capacity were analyzed. Boar semen was diluted with Beltsville Thawing Solution (BTS) containing different concentrations (0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 μM of SAA). During the storage period, sperm activity was measured every 24 hr, and plasma membrane integrity, acrosome integrity, total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC), malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and catalase (CAT) activity were measured at 0, 1, 3, and 5 days. The results from our study suggest that different concentrations of SAA have different effects on semen preservation. Semen samples supplemented with SAA showed reduced effects of oxidative stress on sperm compared to the control samples. Supplementation of 30 μM of SAA significantly improved sperm motility, plasma membrane integrity, acrosome integrity, and antioxidant capacity. However, the addition of SAA to the extender was scarcely beneficial to the improvement of results of artificial insemination with boar semen after liquid preservation. Further studies are necessary in order to demonstrate that SAA has good effects on the liquid preservation of semen.

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Background: Arti cial insemination technology is the production technology used in more than 99% of the world's pig farms. As the frozen sperm damage is very serious, the preservation of pig sperm is mainly carried out at 17°C. However, the accumulation of a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during the preservation process is the main reason for the deterioration of sperm quality. In our research, by adding different concentrations of hydroxytyrosol to the diluent during the storage of pig sperm at 17°C, we compared them with the traditional diluent to study the cumulative amount of ROS, the extent of membrane damage, the sperm acrosome integrity, the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and other indicators to evaluate the effect of hydroxytyrosol on the changes of active oxygen species and sperm quality during storage. After we determined the optimal amount of hydroxytyrosol in the diluent, proteomics was used to monitor difference in sperm protein expression between the control group and the addition of 120 μmol/L hydroxytyrosol group (optimum concentration). Ultimately, we selected the control group and the 120 μmol/L hydroxytyrosol group to test the effect of arti cial insemination.Results: The results of our research showed that during storage of pig sperm at 17 ℃, the sperm quality and antioxidant capacity of the hydroxytyrosol-treated group were signi cantly improved (P < 0.05).Proteomics sequencing analysis proved that the addition of hydroxytyrosol treatment group has potential value in improving sperm quality. Besides, the signi cant increase in sow pregnancy rate and piglet birth weight also con rmed that sperm quality during storage can be of vital importance in actual production (P < 0.05).Conclusions: Based on our results, we demonstrate that the addition of hydroxytyrosol to the diluent can improve the quality of pig sperm and the e ciency of arti cial insemination.

In pig production, reducing production costs and improving immunity are important. Grape pomace, a good agricultural by-product, has been thrown away as food waste for a long time. Recently, we found that it could be used as a new source of pig feed. We investigated the effect of grape pomace on inflammation, gut barrier function, meat quality, and growth performance in finishing pigs. Our results indicated that treatment samples showed a significant decrease in water loss, IL-1β, DAO, ROS, and MDA content (p &lt; 0.05). IgA, IgG, IgM, CAT, T-AOC, SOD, and IFN-γ significantly increased compared with those in control samples (p &lt; 0.05). Meanwhile, the relative mRNA expression of the tight junction protein occludin showed a significant difference (p &lt; 0.05). Analysis of metagenomic sequencing indicated that grape pomace significantly decreased the relative abundance of Treponema and Streptococcus (p &lt; 0.05). In summary, our results demonstrated that grape pomace could improve meat quality, alleviate inflammation, and decrease oxidative stress.