Effect of dietary pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) seed oil supplementation on reproductive performance and serum antioxidant capacity in male and nulliparous female V-Line rabbits

Pumpkin seed (PS) oil is antioxidant that can provide a scavenging effect on reactive oxygen species produced during gametogenesis. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of 0.5% dietary PS oil supplementation on rabbit reproductive performance. A total of 20 mature bucks and 48 nulliparous does were used in a 72 days experiment. Rabbits were divided into two groups: Control group (CON-M = 10 bucks; CON-F = 24 does) and PSO group (PSO-M = 10 bucks; PSO-F = 24 does), blood samples were collected and analysed for serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Bucks and does were cross-mated on d30 to have 4 female groups: (1) CON-C (CON-F × CON-M), (2) CON-P (CON-F × PSO-M), (3) PSO-C (PSO-F × CON-M) and (4) PSO-P (PSO-F × PSO-M). Doe serum oestradiol and progesterone were assessed on days 0, 14, 26 and 32 after mating. Bucks serum testosterone and oestradiol were also assessed. Reproductive performance and litter size and weight were recorded, semen samples were collected from bucks for 6 successive weeks and assessed for semen quality. PS oil increased the level of TAC (p = .05) and decreased total MDA (p = .04) in both sexes. The percentage of sperm abnormality was decreased in PS oil-fed bucks (p = .04), PS oil did not alter the reproductive performance of the does including litter size and litter birth weight (p > .05). In conclusion, PS oil improved buck fertility. The antioxidant effect of PS oil was remarkable in both sexes. HIGHLIGHTS Pumpkin seed (PS) oil improved the semen quality of rabbit bucks. PS oil increased antioxidant capacity in both rabbit buck and doe. PS oil did not impact the reproductive performance of rabbits.