EFFECTS OF TOMATO LYCOPENE ON SEMEN CHARACTERISTICS AND LIBIDO OF RABBIT BUCKS

Abstract

A total of 15 mature mongrel rabbit Bucks were randomly divided into five treatments at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Farm, Bauchi, Nigeria. The experiment lasted for a period of 16 weeks. The Bucks were allowed 4 weeks for stabilization and acclimatization, 4 weeks for training with a teaser doe and 8 weeks for oral administration of graded levels of tomato lycopene (0.00g, 0.25g, 0.50g, 0.75g, and 1.00g). Semen was collected once a week from all 15 Bucks and analyzed. The result showed that while lycopene doses at 0.75g and 1.00g significantly reduced (P˂0.01) reaction time (seconds) it also resulted in greater (P˂0.01) semen volume (ml), sperm cell concentration/ml (n×107), total sperm Count (n×107) and libido score (mounts/minute) while live sperm cells (%) was not significantly affected by all doses of lycopene administered. The result also showed significant improvement (P˂0.05) for Sperm motility (%)of Bucks administered 0.50g and 0.75g lycopene. From the finding of this study it was concluded that lycopene significantly influenced semen characteristics and libido of rabbit bucks. This study therefore recommends that lycopene at 0.75 grams per day for eight weeks should be used to improve the semen quality and libido of rabbit Bucks used for breeding. Further research should be carried out so as to widen the scope and utilization of lycopene in animal science