The Cryoprotectant Effects of Safflower Polysaccharides on the Quality of Frozen-Thawed Boar Sperm

The low resistance of boar sperm to cryopreservation dictates that adding antioxidants and energetic substances to the diluent to improve sperm quality is necessary. This study is designed to assess the impact of various concentrations of safflower polysaccharides (SPSs; 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 g/L) on the quality of boar sperm following freezing and thawing. The results of the study showed that the supplementation of 1.5 g/L SPS significantly enhanced the motility, average path velocity, straight-line velocity, curvilinear velocity, beat cross frequency, acrosome integrity, plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity, and DNA integrity compared with the control group (p < 0.05). In addition, the supplementation of 1.5 g/L SPS significantly enhanced the total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase activity, glutathione peroxidase activity, and catalase activity while significantly decreasing malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide content (p < 0.05). Therefore, the supplement SPS has potentially positive implications for improving the quality of cryopreserved boar sperm, and the recommended concentration is 1.5 g/L SPS.