Abstract:
Monosodium glutamate is a sodium salt of naturally occurring L-form of glutamic acid mostly
used as flavour enhancer in various food products. The present study investigated the effects of
monosodium glutamate (MSG) on the semen qualities, gonadal characteristics and daily sperm
production of sexually matured cocks fed diets containing MSG at various inclusion levels (0.00,
0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, and 1.25g/kg diet). A total of 240 sexually matured Plymouth Rock cocks
were used for the feeding experiment that lasted for 16weeks. The birds were randomly allotted to
the six treatment diets and replicated five times with eight cocks per replicate in a completely
randomized design. At the end of the feeding experiment, four cocks per replicate were humanely
sacrificed and their reproductive tracts dissected. The collected data were subjected to analysis of
variance followed by Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference (α 0.05 ) where significant differences
were observed. The result of this study revealed that dietary inclusion of MSG at 1.25g/kg diet
significantly (p<0.05) offset spermatogenesis as no semen was provided by the cocks. There was
significant (p<0-05) decrease in all the semen qualities at inclusion levels above 0.50g MSG/kg
diet. A significant (p>0.05) decrease was recorded on the weight, length and width of the testes at
an inclusion level of up to 0.75gMSG/kg diet. However, a deteriorative effect was observed on the
epididymides thus a deteriorative effect on the sperm storage capacities at inclusion of MSG above
0.5g/kg. This study suggested that an inclusion of monosodium glutamate above 0.5g/kg in the
diet has deteriorative effect on semen qualities, gonadal characteristics and sperm production.
