Germinated Wheat as a Potential Natural Source of Antioxidants to Improve Sperm Quality: A Canary Trial

The present study was carried out to determine the effects of germinated wheat on some spermatological parameters (motility, abnormal spermatozoa, hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST), and viability) in male Gloster canaries. For this purpose, the canaries were divided into two groups, each consisting of six canaries, one control (C), and the other experimental group (GW). Group C was fed commercial canary feed. The GW group was fed germinated wheat (germinated for 5 days) and commercial canary feed. The canaries were kept individually in four-storey cages (60 cm × 50 cm × 40 cm). In this study, which lasted 2 months, feed/water was provided ad libitum and lighting was applied daily for 16 h (turned on at 05:30 and turned off at 21:30). At the end of the experiment, the sperm samples obtained from the canaries were examined in terms of the aforementioned parameters. The effects of germination time × concentration, germination time, and solvent rate on DPPH radical scavenging activity and phenolic compounds in germinated wheat were significant (p < 0.001). The highest DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl) radical scavenging activity (86.06%) and phenolic content (316.25 mg GAE/g) in germinated wheats were obtained on the fifth day (90% solvent rate) of germination. It was determined that germinated wheat did not significantly affect abnormal sperm and HOST values (p > 0.05). However, it significantly affected the motility and viable sperm rates (p < 0.05). As a result, it is thought that germinated wheat can be used as a natural antioxidant source to increase motility and vitality in canary sperm.