Antioxidant status of dairy goats fed diets containing pomegranate seed oil or linseed oil

•Pomegranate seed oil (PSO) and linseed oil (LSO) in lactating goat's diet.•PSO and LSO inclusion in diet did not affect goat's dairy performance.•PSO increased total antioxidant capacity (TAC), but LSO decreased TAC of milk.•Dietary PSO increased total polyphenols and decreased somatic cell count in milk.

Twenty-four Mahabadi goats (DIM = 45 ± 6 d, BW = 38.4 ± 3.8 kg, average daily milk yield = 1.05 ± 0.14 kg) were used in a completely randomized design experiment for 42 days to evaluate the effects of pomegranate seed oil and linseed oil on their performance, blood metabolites and antioxidant status. Experimental diets were: 1- control diet (basal diet without added oil, COND), 2- basal diet with 25 g/kg DM pomegranate seed oil (PSOD) and 3- basal diet with 25 g/kg DM linseed oil (LSOD). Dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield, milk protein, milk lactose, ADG and production efficiency in dietary treatments were similar in different groups (P > 0.05), but milk fat increased by addition of linseed and pomegranate seed oils to diet (P < 0.05). Blood metabolites (glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDH and LDL) were not affected by dietary treatments (P > 0.05). Relative to the COND, PSOD increased total antioxidant capacity (TAC), whereas LSOD decreased TAC of milk and blood (P < 0.05). In contrast, compared with the COND, milk and blood malondialdehyde (MDA) content decreased in goats fed PSOD, whereas LSOD increased MDA content of milk and plasma (P < 0.001). Also, milk somatic cell count decreased with PSOD compared with COND and LSOD (P = 0.001). The highest level of milk total polyphenols was found in goats fed PSOD (P < 0.0001). Results suggest that it is possible to improve antioxidant status and milk fat of dairy goats by feeding pomegranate seed oil (25 g/kg DM) as a natural antioxidants.