Sperm quality and testicular morphometry of rabbits fed dietary levels of water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) leaf meal

Abstract

A total of twenty four rabbits of mixed breeds aged 10 12 weeks and weighed between 900 – 1000g, were used in an experiment to determine the effect of feeding varying dietary levels of water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) leaf meal on reproductive parameters and organ weights of male rabbits. The rabbits were randomly allocated into four dietary treatments, T1, T2 T3 and T4 containing 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% of water spinach leaf meal respectively. Feed and water were served ad libitum throughout the 8 weeks experimental period. At the end of the feeding trial, 3 rabbits per treatment were slaughtered and their reproductive organs were carefully dissected out and separated into different components. The testicular morphometry and cauda epididymal sperm characteristics were evaluated. The result showed no significant (P> 0.05) effect of diet on testicular morphometry and sperm characteristics. No significant (P>0.05) effect of diet was also observed on the internal organ weights of the male rabbits. This result shows that water spinach meal can be included up to 15% in rabbit diets without adverse effect on testicular morphometry and sperm quality of male rabbits.