The Effects of Varying Combinations of Dietary Selenium, Vitamin E, and Zinc Supplements on Semen Characteristics and Antioxidant Enzyme Activity of Spermatozoa in 1-Year-Old Native Turkish Ganders

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of dietary Selenium (Se), Vitamin E (Vit E), and Zinc (Zn) and their various combinations on semen quantity, quality, and oxidative enzyme activities of spermatozoa in 1-year-old native Turkish ganders. In this study, 48 1-year-old native Turkish ganders were used. The ganders were randomly divided into 8 dietary treatment groups (Control, Se, Vit E, Zn, Se + Vit E, Se + Zn, Vit E + Zn, Se + Vit E + Zn) with 6 birds each. In addition to the control diet, specific amounts of 0.3 mg/kg Se, 100 mg/kg Vit E, and 100 mg/kg Zn were added to the diets of each treatment group. Semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility, sperm quality factor (SQF), and total live and normal sperm percentage were the lowest in the control group and highest in the ganders fed with the Se + Vit E + Zn combination. While the percentage of macro-cephalic and dead sperm was highest in the ganders fed with control feed, the lowest percentage of dead sperm was found in the sperm of the ganders fed with Vit E and Se + Vit E + Zn combinations. The lowest glutathione peroxidase enzyme (GPx) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and the highest amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined in the spermatozoa of the control group ganders. This study revealed that the combined use of Se, Vit E, and Zn in the diet maintained higher semen quantity and quality in 1-year-old native Turkish gander despite the advancing reproduction season compared to the control group.