Antioxidant activity of raw and cooked onions in rabbit doe nutrition

The aim of this research is to examine how raw and cooked onions affect some antioxidant enzymes and some tissues in female rabbits. Twenty-four female albino rabbits weighing (1-1.5 Kg), (5-6 months age), non-pregnant, were used for the experiment, and they were divided into three groups for a duration of 28 days. A 20 g/kg raw onion and same amount of cooked onion were added to the second and third groups’ diets respectively for comparison of results with control groups without any addition of onion. Results showed that diets supplemented with raw and cooked onion significantly increased the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. The cooked onion group showed normal and no pathological changes in liver, kidney, and heart tissues, while liver tissues of both control and raw onion groups suffered extreme congestion in the central veins of the liver lobules and in kidney tissues of only control rabbits, developed hemorrhagic foci was observed. In the control and raw onion groups, the heart tissue showed the development of hemorrhagic foci and necrosis in the heart muscle fibers. In conclusion, both raw and cooked onions boosted the activity of SOD enzyme, but the cooked onions showed to be more effective than raw at protecting liver, kidney, and heart tissues against cell necrosis caused by oxidative processes.