Reproductive effects of dietary soy phytoestrogens, genistein and equol on farmed female beluga, Huso huso

Abstract

In this study, 54 five-year-old farmed female beluga at stage II of sexual maturation were treated with 0 (control), 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 g of dietary soy equol (EQ) and genistein (GE) per each kilogram (kg) of diet during a year. Blood samples were collected and ovarian biopsy was performed quarterly. Results showed that 64.4% of the Huso huso sexually matured at EQ 0.4 g/kg and reached stage IV of sexual maturation. Oocytes diameters increased significantly at all concentrations of EQ and 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 concentrations of GE and reached a maximum (3 ± 0.2 mm) at 0.4 g/kg EQ concentration at the end of experiment (P