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The objective was to assess the influence of pomegranate seed oil supplementation on the quality of fresh, cooled and frozen-thawed Arabian breed stallion semen. Eight stallions (n = 4 per group) received their normal diet (control group) or normal diet top dressed with 200 ml of pomegranate seed oil (PSO group). Semen was collected every fifteen days for 90 days. Stallions were reversed across the treatments after a sixty-day interval. In cooled and stored condition (2, 12 and 24 hr), spermatozoa motion characteristics, membrane integrity, viability, morphology and lipid peroxidation were analysed. In frozen-thawed semen, sperm dynamic characteristics were analysed by CASA, acrosome status and mitochondrial activity (evaluated by Flow cytometry) determined. The effects of treatment, time, semen type and their interactions were submitted to PROCMIX (SAS ), and means compared by the Tukey test. Also, collected semen samples were artificially inseminated to evaluate fertility and pregnancy rate after day 60 of the experiment. The results from fresh condition showed that semen volume, sperm concentration, abnormality and live sperm were not affected by dietary treatment (p > 0.05). In cooled condition, the higher value for sperm plasma membrane integrity and viability was observed in PSO group compared to control after 24 hr cooled and stored in 5°C. In postthawed condition, the higher value for CASA total motility and acrosome status was observed in PSO group compared to control group (p < 0.05). One hundred and twenty-six mares were artificially inseminated for fertility trial using control and PSO groups' fresh semen. The average pregnancy rates were not significantly different between control and treated group (62.88% and 65.90%, respectively) (p > 0.05). We concluded that under the conditions of this study, dietary supplementation of 200 ml pomegranate seed oil seems to relatively improved Arabian horse sperm quality during storage in cooled and frozen condition via increasing plasma membrane integrity, viability and acrosome status, but did not improve the pregnancy rates.

Three lactating multiparous Sannen dairy goats in late lactation (146±7 days of milk) were used in a 3×3 Latin square design to determine the effects of abomasal infusion of cottonseed oil and dietary enzyme supplementation on milk yield and composition. Treatments were twice daily abomasal infusion of 1. 50 ml d -1 water plus 5 g kemzyme enzyme kg -1 dry matter (DM) of feed (ENZ), 2. 50 g cottonseed oil d-1 (OIL), and 3. 50 g cottonseed oil d -1 plus 5 g kemzyme enzyme kg -1 DM of feed (ENZ+OIL). Goats were fed a basal diet of 40% lucerne hay and 60% concentrates offered ad libitum. Each experimental period consisted of 14 days of adaptation and 5 days of total collection. Abomasal infusion of cottonseed oil decreased (P<0.05) DM intake and increased (P<0.05) milk fat percentage. Dietary supplementation of enzyme in the diet increased (P<0.05) DM and organic matter (OM) intake but had no effect (P>0.05) on apparent digestibility of DM, OM, crude protein, acid detergent fibre, neutral detergent fibre and ether extract. Cholesterol and plasma triglycerides increased (P<0.05) with cottonseed oil infusion but infusion of cottonseed oil with dietary enzyme supplementation had no (P>0.05) added benefit on lactational performance of the goats. These results suggest that abomasal infusion of cottonseed oil increased the amount of lipids reaching the mammary tissues and therefore increased milk fat percentage without altering milk yields.